Call Me Padfoot
by Mangudai
Summary: The life of Sirius Black, from his Hogwarts days to his Azkaban ones.
1. The Owl

**CALL ME PADFOOT**

_- By Marauder_

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_**Disclaimer**: (Why do I have to do this?) I do not own any of the darn characters mentioned here, except some one or two along the way. They are all owned by the great JK Rowling._

_**Authors Note:** I have written a little bit before this, under the pen-name SuperBrat, but this one is a lot more detailed, dealing with my favorite character's life from..........what did I say that for? _

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**Chapter1: The Owl**

The sun was sinking into the distant horizon. The air showed some sign of what a hot day it had been. Sirius Black was seated at the entrance of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, watching his brother and his cousins shriek with glee as they played in the lawn. Though his brother and cousins were always around him, Sirius had received very little brotherly love from them. If Sirius walked up to them and asked to be included in their games, he would receive a punch in his chest and maybe a kick on his genitals. The punch would be given by Bellatrix, his cousin, a headstrong, eleven year old girl. Narcissa, Bellatrix's older sister would be the next to punch him. The kick would be given by Regulus, Sirius's older brother, whom he loathed with all his heart. The only person, who wouldn't take part in beating Sirius up was Andromeda, Bellatrix's younger sister, whom Sirius was actually rather fond of.

Sirius's family, the Blacks, was one of wizards, one of the oldest wizarding families that existed. Some of the other old wizarding families Sirius had heard about, were the Malfoys, the Potters and the Longbottoms. Sirius had never met anyone from the Potter and Longbottom families. The Malfoys, however were extremely close to his family. The Malfoys and the Blacks considered themselves the purest among wizards. Sirius had heard his mother referring to the Potters and Longbottoms as, 'Traitors of blood'. Sirius had thought they must be his kind of people.

At a glance, Sirius did not seem the type of child to be unpopular among his playmates. He was exceptionally handsome, with a straight nose, black hair and blue colored eyes, just the kind of person you would expect to be a leader among friends, not an outcast. The main reason Sirius was ousted from the company of his family's younger generation was because he had three things they did not.

One of these, was a sense of humor, something the other children could not understand for the life of them. The only person who had ever laughed at his jokes was Andromeda, but even she was too young to understand some of them. The second thing, was a hatred for the malicious activities his brother participated in, which Bellatrix and Narcissa found immensely pleasing. The third thing, was a hatred for the Doctrine of Pure Blood, which made him unpopular not only with his cousins, but also with his parents and other relatives. Since the age of three, Sirius and Regulus had been told over and over again about the importance of purity of blood. Regulus had taken everything in and had allowed himself to be brainwashed and had become like his parents, a hater of anyone who had none or partial wizarding blood in them. Sirius on the other hand had failed to understand this. His family had thus come to the conclusion that he lacked intelligence and he was treated like a mentally abstract person. Regulus on the other hand was considered intelligent, and was favored by his parents and relatives.

Sirius also had another thing his cousins and brother did not, a talent for pranks. On several occasions, Sirius had been able to have his revenge for being beaten up by performing a series of pranks that made his foes almost cry with exasperation. Though there was no evidence suggesting that Sirius had done anything, he was always accused and beaten. Sirius's parents were convinced that he would not be able to attend wizarding school, being the person he was, and Sirius almost believed them. Yet, there was a tiny corner of his heart that hoped he would be able to escape from Grimmauld Place and make new friends, who would really like him.

So far, there had been no indication of such an event ever occurring. Sirius would be eleven in a few days. Not that he expected much from his family, his parents had generally been nice enough to give him a little present (that was worth nothing) but his brother's idea of a birthday gift was a solid flogging in front of his cousins. Sirius remembered one particular incident where his brother had pulled of his shirt, tied him to a tree and caned him, while Narcissa and Bellatrix giggled and applauded. 

Sirius's family on the other hand, tended to completely overlook the fact that he had magical talent. Ever since Regulus had started at Hogwarts, the wizarding school, two years earlier, Sirius had managed to secretly go through his books (while he was off impressing Bellatrix and Narcissa) and had mastered every single hex, curse and charm in the them. He had practiced using Regulus's wand, but when Regulus was around, he could do nothing as he didn't have his own wand.

As Sirius watched his cousins and brother play, he had to try hard not to hate them. Sirius did not want to harbor hatred. From what little he had heard and seen, he could tell, that hatred could be a cause for murder or for misery and many other unpleasant things.

'Sirius?', a gentle voice said.

Sirius looked up and saw Andromeda, looking at him with a concerned expression on her face. He noticed that her lower lip was twitching, she was obviously nervous about something.

'Yeah?', he asked, looking back at the lawn.

'Is anything wrong? You look kind of troubled.'

'Troubled? Fantasying about escaping this institute of Pure Bloodedness is more like it.', Sirius chuckled to himself.

'Don't worry, you might be going to Hogwarts soon,' she said, as though she didn't believe this at all.

'The way mum and dad say it, they'll sooner be adopting a Muggle.', Sirius chuckled again.

'That was anything but funny,' Andromeda looked very serious now.

'So unlike my name isn't it?'

Andromeda was forced to let out a small laugh.

'Don't worry about me Andro, it'll only lower your spirits, besides, those slimeballs will think your fraternizing with the enemy', Sirius was battling a tide of hatred that was erupting inside him.

'Let's go inside, so they don't see me talking to you', Andro looked as though she was bursting to say something.

'Yeah, let's go to my room', Sirius got to his feet, failing to notice the urgent expression on Andro's face.

Together, they walked into the house, making sure that Bellatrix and Narcissa were far too busy listening to Regulus's story of how he had flogged a Muggle born student at school and then put a Memory Charm on him so that he didn't remember a thing. Listening to Regulus sometimes made Sirius feel like vomiting. They walked through the sitting room (Sirius first making sure that nobody was there and then signaling to Andro to follow). They ascended the staircase and as they crossed the landing, Sirius had to push Andro into a closet as his mother came walking out of her room.

'What are you doing here, Sirius?' she asked, her tone cold and sharp as though she felt Sirius was not worth speaking to.

'Going to my room', Sirius said, trying to keep his face blank.

'Why aren't you outside with the others?', she looked like she suspected something.

'They won't let me play with them', Sirius forced himself to look saddened at this.

'I don't blame them', she gave Sirius a look as though he was something nasty on the sole of her shoe.

With that she walked off. Andro came out of the closet as Sirius made a very rude sign with his fingers behind his mother's back.

'Oh, don't do that Sirius! she's your mother!', Andro looked shocked.

Sirius glared behind his mother's retreating back and continued walking towards his room, Andro following him. He finally reached it and kicked the creaky old door open. It nearly flew off its hinges as it swung open to reveal a dingy room with a moldy bed in the middle and a rickety desk in the corner, where Sirius had kept everything he owned. Apart from these, the room was empty, though the floor of the room was covered in a shockingly thick layer of dust.

'I'm the only person in the house, whose room doesn't even have a proper door!', Sirius declared as he marched into his room, sending clouds of dust into the air, as his feet hit the floor.

He collapsed on his bed, which made a creaky sound under his weight.

'........or bed'

Andro nervously inched into the room, wincing as clouds of dust rose up to her nose. She looked around the room, taking every thing in and fixed Sirius with a look of pity. 

'Dirty, Isn't it?', Sirius said bitterly, with a look on his face that Andro had never liked. Though Sirius's face was heart-throbbingly handsome, when that look came over it, he looked capable of murder.

'Why doesn't anyone clean it?', Andro asked, trying to look as though the filthy conditions didn't affect her in the slightest.

'They seem to think I don't need it clean', Sirius said, his voice slow and hard, and that murderous look back on his face, that frightened Andro.

His face was now molded in that expression. He was staring out of the window, pure hatred showing on his face. He still looked handsome, but terribly handsome. Andro doubted that any eleven year old in the world, bore this much hatred. She didn't know that this was only a fraction of the hatred, that was flaming inside him. She didn't know that he was battling huge tides of the emotion, to stop himself from doing something rash, which Andro had observed was in his nature.

'Sirius,' she said timidly, 'Please don't look like that'

'Oh, sorry,' Sirius said, trying to wipe his face of that look, not succeeding very well.

'Yeah, so you wanted to tell me something?', he looked at Andro, trying to produce a natural smile but failing horribly.

'Sirius, I want you to promise me that you won't do anything rash after hearing this'

Sirius's artificial smile, was cleanly wiped of his face. His face was now possessed by an expression of suspicion. 'If you want me to' he said in a low voice, that Andro knew, meant he was trying to convey an indirect warning, and she doubted if he would keep his promise of not doing anything rash.

'Sirius,' she repeated, 'If you hurt your mother or father, or do anything rash after hearing this, I swear, I will never speak to you again.....'

His eyes were narrowed. There was no trace of any positive emotion on his face, natural or artificial. 'Just spit it out', he hissed, his eyes becoming slits.

Andro gulped and took a deep breath. She could only imagine what his reaction would be to hearing what she was about to say. She didn't know him well enough to predict what exactly he would do....

'Your mother, sent the Hogwarts headmaster an owl telling him not to admit you to the school......'

Sirius jumped to his feet, and raised himself to his full height, his face was livid. 'Go on', he spat.

'......she said you were abnormal and couldn't learn something if it were told to you ten times.....'

At this Sirius let out a cry of fury and strode towards the door. He groped for the handle, but Andro squealed,

'Sirius, you promised me you wouldn't do anything rash....'

Sirius stopped for a moment. He looked as though he was having a mental debate. He then shrugged and turned around and walked back to his bed plopping down on it. The expression on his face was one Andro could not fathom. It was a mixture of pure hatred, suspicion, depression and a bit of that murderous look that Andro hated. He stared at the ceiling for a while and finally his gaze fell on Andro.

'Just get out of here, Andro' he said, his voice hard and cold. 'If you're found here, you'll be dead'

'Sirius, I'm sorry...', Andro began

'Just scoot', he resumed staring at the ceiling.

Andro felt her eyes well with tears as she walked towards the door. She felt for the handle, when Sirius said 'Wait, you have an owl'

She looked at Sirius who was looking at the window. She saw an owl over there, a brown colored tawny owl. 'Must be for you, I never get anything', Sirius said, staring fixedly at the ceiling. Andro walked over to the window, opened it and let the owl in. She untied the letter from the owl's leg and stared at it for a moment.

'But Sirius...', she whispered, 'This is for you....'

'What the? I told you I never get anything.....', Sirius's jaw dropped as Andro handed him the letter and he read the envelope. It read:

_Mr. S Black_

_The Most Uncomfortable Bedroom_

_12, Grimmauld Place_

Sirius opened the envelope with trembling fingers. Had it come at last? The letter fell onto his lap. He raised it and stared at it, hardly daring to believe what he was reading:

_HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY_

_Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore_

_(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chief Warlock_

_Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)_

_Dear Mr. Black,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on 1st September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July_

_Yours sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

'I made it' Sirius whispered. 'I made it'. He looked at Andro. 'But how?' 


	2. Scouting and Hexing

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_**Disclaimer**: I own nothing *sniff* except Dr. and Mrs. Bernard and Reggie!_

_**Author's note:** Here's something I should have written in the first chapter. I plan to make this series bloody long , so if you don't like long fanfics, you needn't read ahead :). This chapter took quite some time for me to write, because I got into a bit of trouble with the chief punk at school *Ouch*. Okay, what's going to happen...erm.....Sirius has some practical hexing experience......and....um......(sounding annoyed) read on! what did I do all this writing for?_

_A HUGE thanks to anyone who reviewed my chapter one. I think I'll speak out here, I'm a tad lazy to send everyone individual e-mails. One of you asked me if I've read the fifth book yet. Actually, I finished it the day it was released (night actually) Besides, If I hadn't, how would I know Sirius's brother's name? And someone else asked me why I had made him older. Well, you don't generally come across younger brothers who are bullies, do you? Anyway, I'd like to thank everyone again for taking the trouble to review and e-mail me with their suggestions and comments._

_PG13 because of criminal activity and some course slang_

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**Chapter2: Scouting and Hexing**

It was three days since Sirius had received the letter from Hogwarts. He had spent most of the time trying to figure out why the headmaster had sent it to him, when his parents had explicitly told him not to. Though he had resolved to go to Diagon Alley, the next day, and buy his wizarding supplies (without his parents' knowledge), when the morning dawned, he couldn't bring himself to do it. For one thing, he didn't know where Diagon Alley was. For another, he needed an excuse to slip out of the house. And he also needed gold. He had discussed the letter several times with Andro, who thought that maybe the headmaster wanted him at Hogwarts because he was an exceptionally talented wizard, a prodigy. Though this sounded delightfully believable, Sirius wasn't quite sure he believed it. He had managed to lay his fingers on Regulus's wand for a few seconds, the day after he had received the letter, and he had used the time to perform a Disillusionment Charm on the letter, which made it blend with its surroundings, making it nearly invisible. At least, it was now invisible to Regulus's clumsy eyes. He had come across this charm in Regulus's textbook.

Quite in contrast to the weather conditions on the day he had received the letter, the air was now surprising cool. As Sirius roamed the streets of Grimmauld Place, he could hear newsreaders debating about the upcoming weather conditions in Muggle television sets. It had been three days, three long days since he received the letter, as Sirius constantly reminded himself. Now the third day would soon be coming to a close. He had to do something about his wizarding supplies. He had spent a lot of time, debating when he should sneak off to Diagon Alley. For that, he needed gold. He had pondered heavily, considering the various possibilities to raise a little gold for himself. Each possibility seemed more absurd than the last. Finally, he had settled at one possibility, which seemingly was the best, though by normal considerations, it was a flimsy one.

Sirius knew that Regulus had some one hundred and fifty Galleons stashed away as pocket money. That was decidedly unfair as Sirius barely had three Knuts. To buy all his supplies, it would cost roughly about fifty Galleons. That was all he needed. The main question was, how was he supposed to lay his hands on that money and get away with it? He stifled a laugh as he imagined himself walking up to Regulus and asking him with a brotherly smile, to lend him fifty Galleons. He could well imagine Regulus's reaction, and he could almost feel the bruises and cuts with which he would emerge from the meeting. Regulus had two bedrooms. In one bedroom, he kept all his Hogwarts stuff and his old magical toys (most of them broken). In his other bedroom, the one where he slept, he kept his money in the closet. Reading Regulus's books and practicing using his wand had been easy, as Regulus seldom set foot in his second bedroom. But stealing his money was different. He could either sneak into his room, while he was off with Bellatrix and Narcissa during the day, or he could do it at night, while Regulus was sleeping. Either way, Regulus would realize that he had money missing and would throw a big tantrum and as usual, Sirius would be accused and beaten till his bones turned blue. Probably his room would be searched and the money would be found, and it would be all the more worse for Sirius.

Gradually, a plan began to form in Sirius's mind. If he could pull it off, then gold, was no longer a problem. Again, like most of his plans, the odds of success were very low. This particular one, involved a hopelessly advanced spell that was mentioned in one of Regulus's textbooks. Sirius had never even tried it even once, he could only cross his fingers and hope that he managed to pull it off. All the same he couldn't help but feel excited. The little risk that he might get caught, made it almost fun.

Sirius paused outside the window of Number Five, Grimmauld Place. A Muggle called Dr. Aben Bernard, lived there. Sirius had been really fond of the Doctor and his wife since he was a child. The doctor had helped heal the cuts and bruises (in Muggle fashion) he had received from Regulus's regular floggings. Though Aben didn't know that Sirius was really a wizard, he had always had a soft spot for this outspoken little handsome boy, with an amazing sense of humor that had sent him into fits of laughter. Sirius had never told Aben where he lived, and Aben had decided not to ask.

Sirius stared into the sitting room, of Number Five, through the foggy window. He could hear the television blaring perfectly. He decided that he wouldn't go inside, he would try to hear as much as possible from where he was. (He didn't feel like being fussed over by Mrs. Bernard) The newsreaders were still having a heated debate over the weather conditions which was growing more and more hot ("Now Reggie, you had better control your language, you wouldn't like our one thousand viewers to hear you say that again, would you?") For five boring minutes the scientist called Reggie, gave a big boring lecture on what he thought about the censorship committee, trying to prove that he should be allowed the pleasure of choosing what words he wanted to use. ("Okay, Reggie, now can we return to the weather, please?") Finally Reggie relented, letting go of the mike so that the newsreaders could carry on with the news. The camera flashed on to a man who was looking very grim, and in the background, several Muggle policemen were charging at a mob of people, who were wreaking havoc. "The London riots have now spread, to cover the outskirts of the District of Grimmauld Place....."

Sirius heard gasps echo from the surrounding houses, but didn't care. Something had clicked in the back of his mind. The riots! The perfect excuse for him not to be present at home the day he went to Diagon Alley. That was it. His plan was complete. All he had to do now, was wait for the night, and cross his fingers, hoping that it worked. 

He decided to return to Number Twelve and retire to his room after a quick word with Andro. He made a mental note not to tell her about his plan, he wanted to keep it a secret until it was successfully pulled off. He didn't feel like letting it out of his mouth, in case there were eavesdroppers. As he walked towards Number Twelve, he could see people locking their doors and boarding up their windows. The rioters had obviously struck panic in most of the Muggles. The news had said they had reach the outskirts of Grimmauld Place, which probably meant they were near Lane One. Number Twelve was on Lane Twenty, so it would be quite some time before the rioters managed to make their way anywhere near Number Twelve. He wondered if his parents would help ward the rioters off, by using magic, then he decided that they wouldn't. They would probably take delight in watching the Muggles shrieking and running around in terror.

As he walked across the lawn, he was confronted by the people he least wanted to see. Regulus was blocking his way into the house, and Bellatrix and Narcissa were as usual, giggling behind him. 'Bella got a letter from Hogwarts,' said Regulus, a maddening smile playing at his lips. '....and you didn't. Which proves that what I was thinking all along was correct...'

'You actually think? c'mon don't kid me,' Sirius tried to push his way past Regulus. He noticed Andro standing behind her sisters, biting her nails. Regulus stuck out an arm and caught Sirius by his collar, forcing him to stop. Sirius battled against the iron grip of his brother to no avail. He found himself pinned against the wall, Regulus's face, merely inches away from his.

'Not so fast, you little rat,' he hissed, the look in his eyes, was one Sirius had grown to fear. It nearly always preceded an exceptionally painful flogging. But now, he had had enough. That look no longer frightened him. He was now almost Regulus's size, which meant that his strength would also be almost equal to his.

'Go eat skunk droppings, Regulus,' Sirius whispered, the expression on his face was the one that frightened Andro. 'And feed some to those bitches as well'

At this, Regulus let out a cry of fury. His hand slipped from Sirius's collar on to Sirius's throat and tightened its grip. Sirius clenched his fists at his side. He knew what he was going to do. He was going to demonstrate to Regulus and his cousins that he was no longer that pipsqueak of a brother, Regulus thought he was. He had had enough.

'Regulus,' he said, his voice calm, but Andro winced as she saw his eyes light up with that murderous look. 'I just want you to know, I've had enough of your shit. And I'm about to show it to you.'

He raised his right fist from his side and thrust it, with all the force he could muster, into Regulus's face. Regulus let out a cry of pain and stumbled a few feet backward, releasing his hold on Sirius's throat. At this, Sirius took a step forward, raised his foot and thrust it into Regulus's genital region, with all his might. Regulus doubled up, wheezing with pain. Sirius stooped down and clamped his fingers around Regulus's throat. Regulus let out a cry but gave up, the pain in his lower torso was draining all his energy. Sirius raised him to his feet, surprised at how easily he had managed it, and banged him on the wall, making the girls shriek. Sirius realized that he was an inch taller than Regulus.

'Look here, you worthless pile of rat droppings,' Sirius hissed, his face inches away from Regulus's, 'If you are a boy and not a shrieking pipsqueak, you will keep your mouth shut, and command your girlfriends to do the same, do you get me?'

Regulus nodded feebly, his hands over his lower torso. Sirius released his grip over his throat and he slumped to the floor, still clutching his lower torso. 'Sirius...,' he croaked. Sirius turned to look at him and noticed that he no longer looked frightening, in fact, he looked more like a wimp. He almost felt sorry for him. 'Yeah?,' he said disdainfully. 'I want a rematch, okay?,' Sirius nodded and turned around, disgusted. What had he expected? An apology? For bullying him for eleven years? Sirius knew that payback time had only begun.

As he walked to his room, he kept recollecting how he had kicked his brother, with what ease he had raised him to his feet and pinned him against the wall. Regulus had been stupid, to not think of what would happen when Sirius became his size, and bigger. Maybe, he thought that Sirius would never become bigger than him. And he had asked for a rematch. That was probably to make sure the girls didn't ditch him, thinking he was weak. Sirius would have bet his Hogwarts letter, that the next day, Bellatrix and Narcissa would come flocking over to him, leaving Regulus alone in the rain. That is if he was there the next day.

Sirius had planned to go to Diagon Alley, in the early hours of the morning. He was going to raid Regulus's pocket money that night and hex him so that he didn't remember anything. To make sure he didn't realize that his money was missing, Sirius was going to attempt to hex him with a ridiculously advanced charm called the Confundus Charm, which Sirius had never performed even once.

Sirius smiled as he thought of the freedom he would have with his own wand. He could hex Regulus at his leisure and then modify his memory so that he wouldn't remember a thing. He wouldn't need to sneak into Regulus's second bedroom every time he wanted to do some magic. He didn't feel guilty about stealing Regulus's pocket money it was much less than what should have been his share.

He collapsed onto his bed, staring out of the window. This had been the second best day of his life. The best day had been three days ago. It was already dark. All that was left to do, was wait for Regulus to fall asleep.

Four hours passed. Sirius was nearly asleep. He shook himself back to consciousness and took a swig of the pungent orange juice, that he had managed to nick from the kitchen. It instantly made him feel more alive. He glanced at the luminescent dials of his watch. It was nearly one' o clock in the morning. The perfect time for him to put his plan into action. He slipped on his rubber slippers, which didn't make much of a noise and got out of bed. He strode over to his desk and grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill and stuffed them into his jacket pocket. 

The corridor outside was dark and deserted. Sirius winced as the door creaked when he opened it. He decided to leave it open not wanting it to creak anymore. He already thought he had heard a grunt from Regulus in the next room. He carefully inched past Regulus's door towards his second bedroom. He opened the door, hoping with all his heart that it wasn't as creaky as his bedroom door. To his relief, it wasn't. He quietly inched into the room, not daring to turn the lights on, and felt about for Regulus's wand. He found it on top of a pile of books, it had become rather dusty from misuse. He grabbed the wand, and quietly inched out of the room. Now his agenda was rather simple. He opened Regulus's door and crept into the room. Once he was inside, he didn't bother to keep quiet.

'Starry night, isn't it Regulus?,' he said, keeping his voice loud and clear, squashing the excitement that was trying to make it tremble.

'Huh......what....?,' Regulus was jolted to consciousness. He opened his eyes and seeing Sirius calmly seated at the end of his bed, pointing his own wand at him, he began, 'Siri....what...da...,' Before he could finish, Sirius swiftly said, 'Petrificius Totalus'

Regulus's body seized up, and became rigid, the only part of his body that was now moving was his eyeballs. His eyes were widened with fear. Sirius lowered the wand and glancing at his watch, he sighed. He had to proceed fast. Though it was only one thirty, his mother had been known to lose her sleep as early as three' o clock.

He looked at his brothers horrified face. 'Okay Regulus, an explanation. You think that I didn't get a letter from Hogwarts right? Well actually, I did.', Regulus's eyes widened even more. 'Of course, I'm not mad, so I wouldn't show it to mum or dad or you, because the next instant it would be roasting in the fire,' he paused, enjoying the expression on Regulus's face, 'You know, Regulus, you actually have a very smart brother, who has secretly gone through every one of your textbooks, ever since you joined Hogwarts and mastered everything in them,' Regulus's face was now turning purple, as though he was trying to resist the body bind. 'Unfortunately,' Sirius made a face of mock sadness, 'You got onto the wrong side of this wonderful brother of yours. And today you're going to pay for it,' Sirius allowed himself a wicked grin.

'We'll come back to that later, anyway, this smart little brother of yours decided to take matters into his own hands. He needed money to buy his wizarding stuff. And the easiest way for him to get this money was to raid his brothers bedroom. So he decided to do that and take his revenge at the same time,' Sirius rose to his feet, his wand pointing at Regulus's chest. Now was the time to perform the Confundus Charm.

'Confundo!' he cried. Regulus's face was wiped blank of all expression. Sirius sighed with relief. That meant the charm had worked. 'I am your master,' he said strongly and clearly. 'You shall do as I command,' Regulus blinked his eyes in assent. 'You do not have one hundred and fifty Galleons as pocket money. You have merely fifty Galleons. Do you understand?,' Regulus blinked again.

Sirius raised his wand. Regulus's head dropped on to his pillow, his eyes shut. That was another sign that the charm had worked. 'Good,' Sirius muttered to himself. 'And one more thing,' once again, he pointed the wand at the sleeping Regulus. 'Obliviate,' he muttered. Regulus twitched in his sleep. A sign that his memory had been wiped clean of the night's events.

Sirius glanced at his watch one more time. Two' o clock, he had to hurry. He strode over to the closet in the corner and swung it open. Regulus's gold was all lying in a heap. Sirius scooped most of the gold into the waist pocket of his jacket, making sure that he left behind at least fifty Galleons.

He hurried out of the room, closing the door, and the corridor was as dark and deserted as before. He headed for the staircase, inching his way along quietly. Once he was out of earshot of all the rooms, he burst into a sprint. As he ran through the sitting room, he hoped that he wouldn't wake up any of the portraits, who were all prone to shouting their heads off, if disturbed in their sleep. Luck was in his favor for once.

He reached the front door and paused. He pulled out the parchment and quill from his pocket and placed the parchment against it. He paused for a moment wondering what exactly to write, then he made up his mind.

_Dear Mum, Dad and Everyone Else,_ he wrote,

_I have decided to prove that I am worthy of being a Black. In case you don't know, Muggle riots have been happening. The riots have now spread to Lane One. I've managed to learn a few hexes and curses from Regulus's books and I've decided to show those Mudblooded freaks the power of wizarding blood. Don't worry though, I'll modify all their memories and come back home. I've taken Regulus's wand with me._

_Sirius_

Sirius felt sick as he finished the letter. He could have slapped himself for writing a few things. He wondered if it sounded too suspicious, his turning over a new leaf in a matter of one night after whacking his brother blue. Then he decided that the Blacks thought he was mad anyway. They would probably think that the Muggles had killed him, when he didn't return home which was what he wanted.

He tugged at the front door which was locked. 'Damn,' he thought, but then remembered that he still had Regulus's wand. 'Alohomora,' he muttered and the front door clicked open. He tugged at it and it creaked open. He slipped out and then shut it behind him gently. Then resisting the urge to jump into the air and whoop, he sprinted across the lawn and down Lane Twenty of Grimmauld Place.

_Marauder whoops and catcalls_


	3. Aliases and Pubs

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_**Disclaimer:** I own Liam, Stef, Eldo and Brono and Matt Shunpike. But nothing else._

_**Author's Note:** Chapter three is out at last. Took a hell lot of time, can't say why and I hope it lives up to expectations._

_Again a HUGE thanks to anyone who reviewed my Chapter two. I am so grateful *sniff*_

_PG13 because of violent considerations and some slang._

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**Chapter3: Aliases and Pubs**

Sirius did not stop sprinting until he had put six Lanes between himself and Number Twelve. But then his energy began to fail him so he slowed down to a brisk walk. His feeling of savage triumph had reached its peak. His plan had been pulled off, flawless, though in Regulus's bedroom, in the last minute, he had changed something. It had occurred to him, only then, that he might as well not return to Grimmauld Place after his affairs in Diagon Alley were done. Though his wizarding supplies would cost him only fifty Galleons, he had made off with a hundred. He had heard, that there was an inn in Diagon Alley. He had decided to stay at the inn till September the first.

The next question he was faced with, was how he was going to get to Diagon Alley. He had heard Andro talk about a certain Knight Bus. All you had to do was stick out your wand arm, and the bus would screech to a halt in front of you. Though this sounded delightful, Sirius was confident that the bus wouldn't come roaming the Lanes of Grimmauld Place. He resolved to head for the Muggle Highway, which ran parallel to Lane Seven and try his luck. 

He kept walking, trying to keep up a brisk pace, the sooner he got there the better. It would only be a matter of a few hours before his household woke up, and realized he was missing, and if he was still in the vicinity Grimmauld Place, he was sure to be found. He tried to keep calm, but the adrenaline pumping through his body was making it difficult. He clutched Regulus's wand tightly in his right hand. He had reached the end of Lane Ten. Now a right turn, and he would have to go straight ahead for the Muggle Highway.

As he turned into Lane Nine, he noticed three shadows looming in the distance. Who would be roaming around at two thirty in the morning? Nobody as far as he could think, except ,'Damn,' he muttered. 'Rioters, I totally forgot,' The rioters had now come close enough for him to see them clearly. With a jolt, he realized that they were carrying broken bottles, that were sharp at the edges and were stained with something that looked horribly like, 'Blood!,' Sirius gasped, shocked. He had thought that the riots were nothing but a stupid protestation demonstration. He hadn't thought that they would take such a violent turn.

'Who's there?,' one of them asked sharply. 'Liam? Is that you? well, we've been driven from Lane One, the coppers brought guns, we managed to isolate and kill a few of them, with these broken bottles, Eldo took a nasty bullet in the neck, and we took their guns - shotguns and SMGs - pretty powerful, so now we've got some firepower. The whole mob's on Lane Six, right now, and Stef and Brono are giving the coppers some fire.'

Sirius's heart went cold. These people had killed and were planning to kill more. And they were blocking Lane Seven. He had to now find an alternate route, or he would meet with the very fate he wanted his family to think he had met with. 'Liam?,' the man said again and took a few steps forward. He saw Sirius clearly for the first time, and his jaw dropped. 'What the-, a kid!'

'Er - yeah,' said Sirius, feeling tongue tied.

'What are you doing here?' the tallest man asked, shadowing Sirius.

'Er, taking a walk,' Sirius stuttered. The only way he could escape these rioters was to perform magic. But he wasn't sure if it was allowed.

'Look here kiddo, we aren't playing games. Everyone knows there are riots going on. No sane person would take a walk,' said the third man, whose stomach was drooping over his sides.

Sirius eyed the man's muscles nervously. 'I was er - told to come here,' he stammered.

'By who?,' asked the tall man, taking a step forward. 'Don't tell me your mama asked you to fight the rioters off', he chuckled at his own joke.

'She's quite capable,' muttered Sirius to himself. The men didn't seem to hear him.

'So who told you to come here?,' asked the tall man again, his expression was now dangerous.

Sirius decided that he had to hex these men. That was the fastest way to end their interview. If he let the men continue interrogating him, they would probably be done by sunrise.

'A man,' said Sirius, whose voice was not trembling anymore. He was mentally choosing with which spells he was going to hex these men.

'Hey what's that your holding?,' asked the fat man, pointing at the wand. 'A stick. With which you're going to beat us?,' he chuckled.

'No,' said Sirius, still rehearsing the incantations of the appropriate hexes. 'It was given to me'

'By the same man who told you to come here?,'

'Yeah,' Sirius muttered. The men exchanged glances.

'Look here kid, was this man short? and thin? with a long nose?,'

'Guess he was,' Sirius muttered distractedly.

'Liam must have put a message in that. Give it to us, kid,' said the fat man.

'No I won't,' said Sirius. 'I need it'

'For what? Look here, our friend Liam wants to send us a message, so he gave you that stick, to give to us. Understand?,' the fat man stepped forward.

'I don't see why I should collaborate with you rioters,' said Sirius, his lips curving upwards in a grin, 'Why should I make your job easy?'

There was silence for a second. Then the tall man stepped forward.

'Because if you don't, you're going to be beaten into unconsciousness,' he hissed raising his fists.

'I am afraid that you are about to meet with that very fate, as you'll see,' Sirius said, the murderous look, lighting his eyes.

'Stupefy!,' he cried, pointing his wand at the tall man. The jet of red light that blasted from his wand hit the man squarely in his chest. He flew backwards and hit the floor, unconscious. At this the fat man stepped backwards. Sirius sent a stunner that hit him in the stomach. He doubled up and collapsed. Watching his fellow rioters' fate, the third man turned around and began running. But Sirius sent a stunner that hit him between his shoulder blades and he fell on his face.

Sirius sighed with relief. Though he hadn't been in any real danger, it had been the first time he had ever looked into a murderer's face. There had been a haunted look on each of those men's faces that had made Sirius feel quaky. He resolved never to commit a murder, he never wanted his face to be like those rioters.

He glanced at his watch. The rioters had taken fifteen minutes of his precious time. He wanted to be safely aboard the Knight Bus by three' o clock. He knew that it was now impossible to get to the Muggle Highway via Lane Seven. The rioter had said that the mob had been pushed into Lane Six, which meant that it was suicide to take the normal route. He could distinctly hear the distant yells of the rioters.

His only chance was through a dingy alley which ran between two rows of mansions. It's opening was in Lane Twelve, which meant he would have to retrace his steps. He had been through that alley only once before, when he was being chased by Regulus and he knew it led to Lane Seven.

He hurriedly sprinted through Lane Ten and Eleven back to Twelve. He looked around for the opening of the alley, spotting it behind some dustbins. He jumped over the dustbins and ran headfirst into the dark alley feeling the heat in his neck rise. He knew that this place was infested with cats, animals he hated with all his heart. But he had no choice. Firing sparks from his wand, so that the cats wouldn't come close to him, he sprinted through the alley, wincing as he saw pairs of green eyes eying him.

After what seemed like eternity, he saw the alley widen into a road. He jumped over another group of dustbins blocking his path and sprinted out into Lane Seven. He could see the Muggle Highway beyond a thicket of trees and hear the cries of the rioters behind him. In the distance, he thought he could see police cars approaching the scene. He hurriedly sprinted towards the Muggle Highway and stopped when he reached it, panting, he had almost done it.

He glanced at his watch one more time. Ten minutes to three 'o clock. If the Knight Bus didn't exist or it didn't come for some reason, his whole plan would be foiled. Feeling stupid, he stuck out his right arm and held his breath, trying to calm the blood that was rushing through his ears and the adrenaline that was pumping inside him.

For a few seconds nothing happened, and Sirius considered lowering his hand and collapsing on the floor from exhaustion. As he began to lower his hand, there was a mighty BANG. He jumped backwards, startled, and what he saw in front of him made him all the more. A violent purple, triple-decker bus had appeared out of the thin air. 

A pimply faced, jug eared youth, in a purple uniform to match the color of the bus jumped out. 'Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for a stranded witch or wizard, Matt Shunpike at your service -,' he paused for a moment as though not used to not being interrupted and spotted Sirius for the first time.

' 'Choo standing there for? Get in the bus,' he said, goggling at Sirius as though he had never had a passenger more interesting.

'Yeah - thank you,' said Sirius, feeling relieved, and Matt Shunpike helped him up the steps into the bus.

As Sirius entered the bus, the door closed behind him and with another BANG, the bus was off again.

'What's your name?', asked Matt, still goggling at Sirius as he grabbed a notepad and a pencil.

' er - Aben Bernard,' he said, saying the first name that came to his head.

'Aben Bernard,' muttered Matt as he scribbled the name on the notepad. 'And where are you going?,'

'Diagon Alley,' said Sirius, quite sure of it this time.

'Di'gon Alley,' muttered Matt as he scribbled it, 'Okay Aben, it'll cost fifteen Sickles for a bed, but fo' seventeen you get hot chocolate and -'

'I'll take some hot chocolate,' said Sirius hurriedly, digging into his waist pocket.

'That'll be seventeen sickles,' said Matt and he resumed goggling at Sirius.

Sirius dropped the money in Matt's outstretched palm. Matt pocketed it and then said, 'Your bed's on the third deck, I'll show you there'

Sirius followed Matt up the stairs to the third deck. Nobody took much notice of them, they were most of them asleep, which was good, as Sirius kept telling himself. They had reached his bed, and he removed his slippers and slid under the sheets. Matt went to get his hot chocolate and returned a minute later with a steaming mug of what tasted like hot water and brown corn flakes.

After he drank half of his 'hot chocolate', Sirius put the cup on the bedside table, pulled the blanket over himself and settled down for a small nap, which was occasionally disturbed by the loud BANGs of the Knight Bus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later, he was awoken by Matt, who was saying 'Aben, we're at Di'gon Alley. Get up quick before that nuthead driver BANGs off again'

Sirius awoke with a start, and jumped out of bed, knocking over his half empty cup making Matt curse. 'Um...sorry,' he said, not quite knowing what would have been better. 'Oh, you go on, or should I show you the way ag'in?,' asked Matt, glaring at Sirius.

'Er, no, it's okay,' said Sirius rushing towards the stairs as Matt continued to mop the floor and curse. He jumped two stairs at a time (which was rather dangerous, considering how narrow and steep the staircase was) afraid if Matt had been serious about the 'nuthead' driver. Once he was at the bottom deck, Sirius sprinted towards the door, waking many sleeping passengers up, causing them to curse him as well. 

As he reached the door, the driver swung around and gave him a look that clearly said, 'Hurry up and scoot'

The door automatically swung open and he jumped out feeling elated. There was no stopping him now. He did a jig around the platform, oblivious of the fact that the tramps on the road were eying him apprehensively. He noticed a tiny, grubby looking pub and on a crooked board beside it, the letters 'The Leaky Cauldron' were scribbled. He had heard about it, and knew it was the entrance to Diagon Alley.

He walked into the pub, noticing the barman who was bald and was fast asleep, his head propped on his knuckles. He walked over to him, glancing at his watch. It was four thirty. No wonder the barman was asleep. 'Excuse Me,' he said loudly. The barman woke with a start and let out a yelp and fell off his set when he found himself staring into Sirius's face. 

'Sorry about that,' said Sirius, though he wasn't exactly sure it was his fault. 'No problem,' he muttered climbing to his feet. 'Though I must say, at this time? Anyway, why do they call us a twenty four hour inn?,' He seated himself shaking his head.

Sirius was trying hard not to laugh. 'I was wondering,' he said, trying to keep his voice straight, 'If I could lodge here for sometime'

'Sure,' said the barman giving him a toothless grin. 'How long?'

'Till September the first,' said Sirius crossing his fingers.

At this, the barman let out another yelp and nearly fell of his stool, which began to rock dangerously on one leg. Sirius leaned forward and caught the man by his shirt, and managed to pull his stool back onto its three legs.

'Thank you, thank you,' muttered the man distractedly, 'Yes, till September the first, that will be,' he paused for a moment as though calculating something, 'forty five Galleons'

'Perfect,' said Sirius. 'I'll pay before checking out'

'All right then,' said the man, 'I'll show you where you'll be sleeping, I'm Tom, by the way, just follow me'

'Lead the way,' said Sirius smiling at Tom.

Tom jumped off his stool and began walking towards a flight of stairs. Sirius looked around the pub which was to be his home for a whole month, and then followed Tom. 

_Marauder laughs his head off_


	4. Dragon Hearts

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_**Disclaimer:** I do not own the name 'Sirius Black' Sirius Black's parents own the name 'Sirius Black' because they invented it. And I guess JK Rowling owns it too. And about everything else here._

_**Author's Note:** Here's where I give Sirius one thing that makes his character unique. And another HUGE thanks to anyone who reviewed my previous chapters._

* * *

**Chapter4: Dragon Hearts**

Tom showed Sirius into his room, which was rather spacious, with a cozy looking bed in the corner and a couple of cushioned chairs overlooking a fire which was merrily cracking away. A mirror which was exactly the right size for Sirius stood a few feet away from the bed. Placed adjacent to the wall, was an oaken table and another cushioned chair was pushed against it. 'This is the room, we generally keep for students,' said Tom, glancing around the room. 'I suppose you are a student?,' he asked, looking at Sirius. 'Yeah, I am one. I'll be starting at Hogwarts on September the first,' said Sirius. For some reason, he felt rather warm towards Tom.

'Where are your parents?,' asked Tom, looking curious.

'They, um, they're dead,' said Sirius hurriedly, not able to invent anything else fast enough. 

'Oh,' said Tom, the curious look was wiped off his face. 'I'm so sorry, son. Shouldn't have asked,'

'No problem,' said Sirius, feeling furious with himself. Tom seemed to notice that he wasn't looking very happy. 

'I guess I'll leave you for the night, then,' he said, inching towards the door.

'Yeah, sure. Good Night,' said Sirius, relieved.

The door slid shut behind Tom. Sirius walked over and collapsed into one of the chairs over looking the fire. That had been close. He wasn't very happy with his lie. Though he bore no affection for his parents, he wasn't really sure if he'd be happy if they died. He hoped Tom wouldn't pity him and shower favors on him, which he didn't deserve. He had seen people do that to orphans. 

He didn't remember how long he sat there, staring into the fire, his mind blank. He finally rose from the chair and trudged over the bed. Kicking away his slippers, he slid under the blanket for the second time that night. As his head hit the pillow, he couldn't help but grin. He had escaped from Grimmauld Place. In a few hours, his note would be discovered and a search for him would begin. When he was not found, his family would think he was dead. His grin widened as he thought of what Regulus's reaction would be, when they met each other at Hogwarts. It would be too late for him to do anything, then.

Gradually his thoughts merged into dreams. He dreamt he was dueling Regulus with a new wand. He fired a strange jet of light at Regulus and he fell on his back unconscious. He dreamt that his parents were staring open-mouthed as the headmaster (a tall man in a top hat) told them that he had topped his class in everything. As the headmaster was talking, he saw a huge, shaggy, black dog emerge from behind him. He walked to the dog and patted it. It barked and leapt at him. He gasped and stepped backwards. 

'BANG!'

Sirius woke up, his heart was beating hard against his ribs. What was that dog? and what was that banging noise. 

There was another bang. Sirius realized it was from the door. Someone had been knocking at the door and was now banging impatiently. He jumped out of bed and hurriedly ran to the door tripping over his slippers which were lying in the middle of the room. He opened the door and found himself looking into the groggy face of Tom. He was holding a notepad and a quill was poised above it.

'Sorry to wake you up, son, but I forgot to take down your name last night and give you your key,' he said, looking thoroughly ashamed of himself. 

'No problem,' said Sirius, thinking this was the height of inefficiency.

'So, what's your name,' he asked not looking at Sirius in the face.

'Aben Bernard,' said Sirius, sticking to his alias on the Knight Bus.

He scribbled it down on the notepad, sending drops of ink flying from his quill. A few of these drops landed on Sirius's jacket, staining it.

'You'll be staying till the first of September, right?,' he said, still furiously scribbling, his tongue between his lips.

Sirius nodded. Tom didn't even look up to see him nod. After he finished scribbling, he handed over a knobby key to Sirius. He then proceeded to stare curiously at him. 

'Surprising, you don't have any luggage,' he said, still eying Sirius.

'Don't worry Tom, before I check out, I'll have loads,' said Sirius.

'You're going to buy a lot of stuff in Diagon Alley?,' asked Tom

'Yeah,' said Sirius

'You'd better choose well. There's so much stuff, you'll feel like buying the whole lot,' said Tom, grinning toothlessly. 

He turned around to leave. Before he had gone very far, he looked over his shoulder at Sirius.

'You might want to come down for breakfast now, There's not much crowd yet,' he said

'Yeah sure, I'll be down in a minute,' said Sirius. 

He walked back into his room and set his bed right, before he decided to head down to the pub. As he walked down the staircase, he met a red-headed girl of about his age, who was climbing them up. She blushed as he went past her. 'Honestly,' Sirius muttered to himself. As he entered the pub, Tom gave him a thumbs-up, from behind the bar table. As he walked towards him, Tom pointed at an empty table a few feet away. Sirius hurried towards it before anyone else could.

He looked around at the pub. It looked very different from what it had been at four thirty in the morning. There were already at least a dozen chattering witches and wizards and Tom had called this 'Not much crowd'. Sirius noticed a few schoolgirls who were pointing at him and giggling. He took great care not to look at them. He was not in a very flirtatious mood. 

Instead, he signaled to Tom who came sidling over. He placed his order for breakfast and leaned on the backrest of his chair staring determinedly at the ceiling, well aware of the giggling girls around him. Some boys had now entered the pub and they were eying him jealously. A few minutes later, Tom returned with his order and he began eating in silence.

A few minutes later, a pretty girl with jet black hair came and took a seat in the chair opposite him. He acted as though he didn't see her and continued eating. After a few moments of mutual silence, she finally said, 'Hi, I'm Julie'

Sirius looked at her face and saw she was smiling. He gave her a cold stare that clearly said, 'Get Lost' It seemed however, that she couldn't take a hint....

Instead she began, 'Would you, er-be my er-'

Sirius said in a clear, cold voice, 'Look here, I am not going to be your boyfriend and I'm having my breakfast and I would be so grateful if you would just scoot'

Her smile vanished. She gave Sirius a hurt look and marched away towards her friends who were eying Sirius excitedly, and looked all the more excited when she told them what had happened.

Sirius hurriedly finished the remainder of his food and walked over to Tom. 'Hey Tom, how do I get into Diagon Alley now?,'

Tom swung around. He had been serving a couple of odd looking men. 'I'll send someone with you, hang on, Oi! Dedalus! get over here,'

A young boy lumbered towards them. He was red in the face and looked excited for no apparent reason. 'What's up, Tom!,' he yelled, though there was no need to.

Tom said, 'Keep your voice down, before someone stomps your head. This young man wants to get to Diagon Alley, so show him the way, get me?,'

Dedalus looked at Sirius and gave him a wide grin. 'Aye Aye Tom!,' he yelled again. 'Just follow me, old boy!,' with that he swung around and began walking towards the back door of the pub.

'You'd never find anyone more enthusiastic,' muttered Tom looking disgruntled. Sirius hurried to catch up with Dedalus who was bouncing with every step he took.

'So,' said Sirius, hurrying along beside him, 'You're in this place a lot?,' 

'Practically live here,' answered Dedalus, now kicking the back door open. 'You see, Tom is my mommy's brother,' He strode past the open door into a walled courtyard with nothing but a few dustbins which were placed adjacent to the wall.

'Now,' he said, as though he were talking to a two year old. 'You see this wall over here? where this dustbin is?,' Sirius nodded.

'Well you tap the brick that's three up and two across,' he tapped a brick with a wand he removed from his pocket, 'and will you look at that!'

For the brick had begun to quiver and wriggle and then a small hole appeared, which gradually widened until they were facing a huge archway, which led to a cobbled street that twisted out of sight.

'There you are, Diagon Alley,' he said pocketing his wand. 

'Wow,' said Sirius, then he looked at Dedalus. 'How do you have a wand?,'

'Got one last week,' he replied. 'I'm starting at Hogwarts this September'

'So where do I get a wand?,' asked Sirius.

'Ollivander's,' said Dedalus.

'Okay, that's a wand shop, right?,' 

Dedalus nodded

'Well see you then,' said Sirius

'We shall meet again, my old friend!'

Dedalus waved his hand and sprinted back towards the pub. Sirius stared at his retreating back. He had known him barely five minutes, yet he had called him 'old friend'. He shrugged and turned towards the street.

As he walked down the cobbled street, he was amazed at the variety of magical merchandise that was for sale. He decided to buy himself some robes, first thing. He noticed a shop called _Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions._

He walked into Madam Malkin's shop and noticed a squat, smiling witch whom he thought must be Madam Malkin. As she bustled towards him, he said, 'I'd like to buy my Hogwarts uniform,'

'Yes, dear, just follow me, we have another young man being fitted in fact.'

Sirius followed Madam Malkin wondering who this _young man_ could be. He followed her to the back of the shop and saw a thin boy, a little taller than himself, with dark brown hair and eyes, who was standing on a footstool while a second witch was pinning long black robes to him.

Madam Malkin stood Sirius on a footstool beside him and draped a long robe over his head and began pinning it to the right length. 

'Hi,' the other boy said, smiling, 'Hogwarts?'

'Yeah,' replied Sirius grinning back.

'I'm Frank, Frank Longbottom,' said the boy. 'What's your name?'

'Sirius Black,' replied Sirius. He had an inkling that he could trust this boy.

'I've heard of your family,' said Frank, 'One of the last remaining pure blood families, right?'

'Yeah,' said Sirius, 'And yours is one too,'

'So,' said Frank, 'Which House do you think you'll be in?'

'I dunno,' said Sirius, 'There are four isn't it?'

'Yeah,' said Frank, 'Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin'

'I hope I'm not in Slytherin, whatever happens, any of the other Houses is okay,' said Sirius.

'Wait a minute,' said Frank, looking confused, 'I thought your family were rigid followers of the Doctrine of Pure Blood -'

'Yeah,' said Sirius, 'But I'm not -'

Before he could finish Madam Malkin said, 'That's it, you're done, my dear,' and Sirius hopped off the footstool. Frank signaled to him to wait outside the shop.

Sirius walked out of Madam Malkin's and a moment later Frank turned up. 'You were saying something?', he asked enquiringly.

'I was saying that I'm different from the rest of my family. They were about to declare me an outlaw before I ran way,'

'What? You ran away!,' exclaimed Frank.

'That's right,' said Sirius. And he told Frank the whole story of how his parents tried to stop him going to Hogwarts and how he had escaped and taken the Knight Bus and lodged in The Leaky Cauldron. 

Frank looked sympathetic as Sirius finished. 'I must say, I admire you, Sirius,' he said. 'I would never dare to stand up to my family like that. I want you to know that you'll always have my support. Just send me an owl if you need me.'

'Thanks, Frank,' said Sirius. 'Well I got to run now, my mom's calling me' said Frank. 'See you at King's Cross, Sirius'

As Sirius watched Frank's retreating back, he knew he had found a friend, for the first time. He looked at the black robes in the bag he was holding, debating whether or not to return to the inn and try them on. He decided to buy a wand first.

He walked down Diagon Alley, spotting the place called Ollivander's. It was a narrow and shabby shop, and peeling gold letters on the door read, _Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC._

As he stepped inside, a tinkling bell rang in the distance. The place was rather tiny and was empty, except for a single chair in the middle. 

'Sirius Black,' said a soft voice. Sirius jumped and swung around to see a middle aged man with wide, pale eyes. 

'Er - Hi,' said Sirius.

'I was wondering if I would ever see you,' said the man again. 'From what I heard your parents say when they came for your brother's wand,'

Sirius felt himself going red.

'But it seems, your will overpowered theirs,' said the man. 'I am Ollivander,' he extended a pale hand and Sirius reluctantly shook it.

'You have the good looks of the Black family,' continued Ollivander. 'But you hold yourself differently. I do not see the look of the Blacks in your eyes. I see something else. Something only a wand can verify.'

'Which is your wand arm?,' he asked.

'Er - Right,' said Sirius.

'Just hold it out,' Sirius stuck out his hand and Ollivander began measuring it with a tape.

'As you probably know by now, every wand has the core of some powerful magical creature. We use unicorns hair, phoenix feathers and so many others,'

With a jolt, Sirius realized that the tape was measuring his arm by itself.

'That's enough,' said Ollivander and the tape stopped measuring him.

'Try this,' said Ollivander removing a wand from a box and giving it to Sirius. 'Oak and Unicorn hair. Ten inches. Stiff. Just wave it around,'

Sirius waved it around, but nothing happened.

It continued for half an hour. Every single wand Sirius tried, nothing happened. Ollivander had brought out a stool and was standing on it, extracting boxes from higher levels.

Finally, he said, 'This is an unusual combination. Dragon heartstring and mahogany. Twelve Inches. Nice and bendy,'

Sirius felt a strange warmth in his fingers as he clutched the wand. He waved it and a shower of sparks blasted from it, singeing Ollivander's eyebrows, making him fall off his stool. 

'Sorry,' said Sirius, though he knew he had found his wand at last.

'That,' said Ollivander as he got to his feet, 'Is the best wand match I have ever made. Never before have the sparks been this furious'

Sirius stared at him.

'Dragon heartstring. The thing that you have, that the other Blacks don't, is bravery. Astounding bravery, in fact. We must expect brave deeds from you. Great deeds and brave ones.'

Sirius couldn't help but feel elated as he paid seven Galleons for his wand and left Ollivander's shop.

_Marauder feels elated too._


	5. A Howling Night

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_**Disclaimer:** I own nothing but my fury (especially when I write disclaimers)_

_**Author's Note:** At last! I've finally put up this chapter after a long wait (involving the server crashing for a couple of days) Brace yourselves! this chapter is strictly PG13 so if you are under 13 ask mommy and daddy before continuing! (I loved saying that!)_

_In this chapter the angst stuff begins. It's also by far the longest chapter yet._

* * *

**Chapter4: A Howling Night**

The next day was quite a hectic one for Sirius. He bought all his books from the bookstore, Flourish & Blotts and it was quite an achievement to carry them back to the inn unaided. The rest of the day was spent in going through the books, and he noticed that the curriculum had changed slightly since Regulus had been in his first year. He had quite an interesting time, practicing the new charms and hexes in them. It was past two o' clock in the morning when he finally dropped asleep, a copy of_ The Standard Book of Spells_ on his lap.

The next day, he decided to head for the apothecary and buy the items he would need for his Potions classes. He then planned to head for the joke shop. It wasn't a very big one, and he had heard people passing by, muttering, 'The one at Hogsmeade is much better....,' All the same, Sirius found that he didn't really care. All he wanted was a dozen or so Dungbombs at present. He had some very good ideas caged up, which he wanted to put into practice. 

As he walked past Ollivanders towards the apothecary, Sirius thought he heard his name being muttered in the distance. He stopped for a moment, trying to cock his ears, and then he heard it again. Two figures were walking towards him, and though they hadn't noticed him, he heard them say his name.

He hurriedly dived behind a pile of boxes near the entrance of the shop, not wanting to be recognized by them. They were coming closer, and he could now hear them perfectly. 

'I don't know what he thought, really, what an idiot, he's probably dead right now. Good riddance, anyway,' he heard a sickening voice say. There was no mistaking that voice. He had grown up hearing it. 

'Was he messed up in his brain?,' he heard another slimy voice ask.

'I'm pretty sure he was, Rodolphus, anyway who cares? Mother and Father are happy about it, they were trying to get rid of him some how, _and_ he took my wand with him, the fool,'

'So, you're here to buy a wand,' 

'Yeah, and to get Bellatrix's supplies,'

'Bellatrix? Is she that pretty girl who was with you?,'

They had now come close enough to be seen clearly. Sirius found himself looking at the lanky frame of the brother he had grown to hate. His head was inclined towards the boy next to him as he was talking, who Sirius noticed was heavily built, and had a rather blank expression on his face. Sirius quietly drew out his wand from his pocket, ready to curse them both if they saw him.

They were now too close for comfort. To Sirius's annoyance, they stopped right outside the shop, and he was hiding merely three feet away from them. He saw Regulus glance at the door. 

'This is the place,' he told his friend, 'Ollivanders. Will you hang on while I get my wand?,'

'I'll come with you,' said the boy, and together they began walking towards the door.

Sirius felt his heart freeze almost solid. Mr. Ollivander would be bound to tell Regulus that he had seen Sirius, and then there would be a hunt for him, and he would be found. He had to do something to stop the pair of them. He could hex them, and warn Mr. Ollivander not to tell them that he had seen him. 

He pointed his wand at Regulus, and as he reached for the door, he cried, 'Stupefy!' As Regulus collapsed, the other boy looked around wildly, diving for his own wand. Before he could spot Sirius, he sent a stunner at him and he fell forward on the door with a crunching sound.

'What's going on?,' came a soft voice. Sirius saw Mr. Ollivander standing at the door, gazing in bewilderment at Regulus and his friend who were unconscious. 

'Mr. Ollivander,' Sirius said hurriedly. He looked around and gave a start when he saw Sirius behind the pile of boxes. 'Yes?,' he muttered uncertainly, his eyes dashing from Sirius's outstretched wand to the slumped bodies on the floor, and a look of comprehension lit his face.

'Look, if anyone from my family comes here, I need you to tell them that you haven't seen me. Okay?,' Sirius stared pointedly at him, his fingers crossed.

'Yes, surely, If that's what you want......,' said Ollivander looking nervously at the bodies.

'Okay, I'd better run, then,' said Sirius. 'Oh, by the way, it's just a simple stunner. Say 'Enervate' and they'll come around,'

'Yes.....I thought as much, but how did you manage it?....being your age?,'

'Erm....we'll talk about it later, okay? I've got to run now, and remember, don't tell them you saw me,' Sirius hurriedly stepped out on to the path and began running towards the inn, briefly hearing Mr. Ollivander mutter 'Enervate' behind him.

He sprinted down the winding path, anxious to get back to the inn as soon as possible. He was forced to come to a halt as he saw three people walking towards him, in the distance. His jaw dropped. His mother was in the lead with Andro's mother beside her. Bellatrix was strolling behind them, looking around with an interested expression on her face. Sirius was forced to dive behind a shelf of books for sale, outside Flourish & Blotts. Like Regulus, his mother seemed to be talking about him.

'Always knew he'd meet with such an end, you know, he was just too stupid to understand things....,' his mother was saying in a matter-of-fact way.

He tightened his grip on his wand. He felt the familiar sensation of anger boiling up in him. They had stopped outside Flourish & Blotts, and he was having a hard time resisting the urge to hex them.

'This is the bookstore, isn't it? we'll come back later, as I was saying about Sirius.......,'

Sirius lost control. He quietly muttered the body bind curse, pointing his wand at Bellatrix's retreating back, and rushed off as he heard his mother and Bellatrix's mother shriek with worry at Bellatrix's petrified state.

'Gits,' said Sirius as he was sprinting towards the inn. They probably wouldn't recognize the curse, and Regulus would go through his books and come across the counter curse in one of them, and perform it (with great difficulty) and become the hero of the family. Sirius's face looked murderous as he stomped into the inn, and Tom who noticed it, was rather taken aback.

'You all right Aben? You look kind of ratty,' his toothless mouth was half-open in an expression of concern.

'Nothing,' said Sirius, storming towards the staircase.

'Something wrong?,' Tom persisted.

'Got a raw deal, that's all,' said Sirius as he marched up the stairs.

He felt no better as he stormed into his room, which was scattered with his newly bought books. He shoved aside _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_ from his bed and collapsed on it. He had already been in a storming rage and lying to Tom made him feel no better. 

It was only seven o' clock, too early for him to settle down for the night, but Sirius couldn't think of anything else to do. He lay on his bed fuming for two hours, until Tom cautiously knocked on his door and asked him if he wanted to come down to dinner. Though Sirius didn't feel like eating amid a crowd of chattering people, he forced himself down, anything to distract him from the painful company of his thoughts. As he trudged down the stairs, he was well aware that Tom was looking at him from behind, probably worried about him. Sirius didn't like Tom worrying about him. Not when he had fed him with such wholesome lies. 

As he entered the pub, he groaned. Julie and her friends were back, and though Julie was throwing dirty looks at him, the others were looking at him hopefully. He sincerely hoped, he wouldn't have to put up with any of them. He dully placed the order for his dinner and leaned back his hand in his pocket, was around his wand.

Presently, Tom arrived with his order, and Sirius hurriedly went through his main course and without asking for a second helping, he stood up to leave, hearing groans of disappointment from Julie's friends. As was usual, he walked back to his room kicking the door open. 

He banged the door behind him, hearing people muttering from the neighboring rooms. He was now feeling sleepy enough for the night. He slumped on his bed, and trying to calm his thoughts, he pulled the blanket over himself. He gradually drifted into an uneasy sleep.

*

'Hurry up,' Sirius told himself. He had been sprinting for nearly an hour along the same path, which seemingly was endless. Every muscle in his body was crying in protest, but some strange force kept him running forward. He didn't really know why he was doing it. He just knew that grave dangers were behind him. Something was telling him that even worse dangers lay ahead of him. Yet, he continued running, oblivious of his limbs being about to fall apart.

As he ran around a curve in the passage, a great black, shaggy dog jumped from nowhere, barring his path. He was forced to stop, it was so huge, that it occupied the whole width of the passage. It's mouth was open,, and a long dripping tongue was hanging outside. For a few moments, they stared at each other. Sirius was struck, by how majestic it appeared. Sirius was tempted to pat it on his head, but something stopped him. 

'Could you move?,' Sirius asked, he was confident that the dog could understand what he said. The dog merely continued staring at him, almost mournfully, its black eyes were glowing strangely in the darkness of the passage. Sirius was taken aback. He knew that the dog had understood perfectly well. It was ignoring him for its amusement. He tried one more time, but this time, the dog tilted its head slightly from side to side, as though shaking it. Sirius was beginning to feel annoyed.

'Get out of my way,' he said, but the dog stared fixedly at him. Its shut its mouth, banging its jaws together with a warning crunch. It continued gazing at Sirius, with its mouth closed this time, as though bracing itself for something.

Sirius removed his wand from his jacket pocket. 'If you don't move, I'll curse you,' he said. The dog twitched slightly, and on seeing Sirius's wand, its mouth fell open again. Sirius saw it display its set of white teeth, as though grinning at him. 'You don't know what this can do, do you?,' said Sirius warningly, but the dog continued to grin, with its head bobbing around as though it was silently laughing. Sirius's temper got the better of him. 

Stupefy!,' he cried. The red jet of light that blasted from his wand simply ricocheted of the dog's shaggy mane of hair. Again, it displayed its magnificent teeth and howled as though mocking Sirius. Its howl raised a confused emotion in Sirius's chest. It was a homely feeling, and at the same time, there was a fearful feel to it.

It turned around and began walking away from him. Sirius thought it was leaving him at last. It walked a good twenty feet away from him and suddenly stopped. Sirius stared at it apprehensively. It turned around gracefully so that it was facing Sirius. 'What?,' Sirius asked. The next second, his power of speech froze, as the dog began charging towards him. Its shaggy hair was standing up, as the air rushed through it. When it was six feet away from Sirius, it sailed into the air, in a graceful leap, and its nose was facing downwards. 

Sirius couldn't move, and as the dog's head bashed into his chest, he screamed and fell to his knees. The pain was excruciating. He felt silent tears run down his cheeks, totally out of his control. He knew it. This beast was going to kill him. The dog was now walking away from him. It walked ten feet away and charged again. It once more, sailed into the air when it was a few feet away from him.

'No,' moaned Sirius as its head bashed into his chest again, harder this time. He slumped face down on the floor, clutching his chest and moaning. He felt as though his chest had been shattered to powder. He head the dog's feet pad softly towards him. It was now next to him, and he thought he heard it whimper.

It came even closer. Sirius could feel its breath. He didn't care what it did now. He was about to die. His heart was bound to stop functioning from the pain in his chest. The dog gently swung its paw at his left shoulder. With the force of the blow he turned over and was now lying on his back.

The dog bent forward, its nose was now inches from his. It's mouth was open and a its tongue was hanging out. 'Eat me,' Sirius muttered. 'Just end the pain,'

The dog's tongue suddenly made contact with his face. It slowly licked his face, making sure that every part of his face was thoroughly swept by its tongue. It's tongue was warm and moist, and quite suddenly, all the pain from Sirius's chest vanished.

The dog whimpered again as though muttering an apology and bounded away, leaving Sirius lying, painless, on his back. 

*

Sirius sat up in his bed, panting. That had been an awful dream. Or was it a dream? It had seemed a lot clearer than a dream. It had been more like a vision. He shook himself. He was being silly. It was nothing but a sodden dream. He tried to calm his nerves, with little success. It had felt so real. 

With a jolt, he realized that his hands were clutching his chest. He hurriedly pulled them away. But dreams could influence your actions. 'Nothing to worry about,' he told himself. He slowly ran his finger along his face. His face was warm and moist, as though it had been in contact with a tongue. A dog's tongue.

'No,' Sirius said aloud to himself. It was probably just sweat. After all, it had been a really frightening dream. His body was bound to react. He repeatedly tried to calm himself but he would not become calm. A thought at the back of his mind kept nagging him, telling him to check if he was bruised. He tried to ignore it, afraid of what he would see if he checked, but finally he gave in.

He nervously pulled back the sleeve of his left hand and let out a horrified gasp. There was a red bruise, in the shape of a dog's paw. It was swollen, as though it had been given to him recently. For a few moments, Sirius stared at the bruise, wickedly illuminated in the light of the street lamp outside his window. He was now so nervous that he could feel his shirt sticking to his chest under his jacket, because of the sweat. Again, the thought nagged him to check his chest for a bruise. He gave in without protest, this time.

With trembling fingers, he removed his jacket. He tried to convince himself that he wouldn't find anything under his shirt, but failed. His heart was beating so hard against his ribs that it hurt him. He had a hard time undoing his buttons, because he had hardly any control over his fingers. He gasped as he finished undoing the last button. He saw a magnificent bruise and he could have sworn that was exactly the place where the dog's head had bashed into his chest.

He nervously touched the bruise with his finger, as though testing to see if it was real. He hurriedly withdrew as it gave a painful throb. 'If the _dream _wasn't real, how come you're bruised wherever the dog hit you?,' asked the nasty thought at the back of his mind. 'Maybe, I was flailing around and I hit myself?' Sirius suggested nervously, but he agreed with the retort his brain gave him. 'Fat chance'

He gave a start as he heard a series of hoarse barks from outside his window. 'Nothing, just a stray dog barking,' he told himself, trying to stay where he was. But as the dog let out another series of barks, an unseen force prized him off his bed and he bent down to his knees.

Shivering with fear, he raised himself to his feet and inched towards the window trying to convince himself that he was just going to see a normal stray dog barking at another one. His hands were sweating as he pulled aside the curtains. He pressed his nose against the glass and jumped back when he saw what was standing just outside the entrance of the inn.

A huge black dog, staring back at him, with unblinking eyes. Sirius knew at once that it was the same dog that had bashed him in his dream. For some reason he couldn't take his eyes off it. He stared at it, petrified, feeling the his clothes drench themselves with sweat.

It looked at him for a few moments, and then reared itself on its hind legs and opened its mouth. Sirius's heart gave a painful throb as it let out a howl, a howl that made his hair stand on end. For a painful few moments, it kept howling, sending shivers down Sirius's spine. He knew that he had heard the same howl in his dream. 

Suddenly, howls erupted from the dogs all around. For a bone chilling five minutes, the dogs, all over the country it seemed, howled in answer to the black dog. The black dog conducted the others, with graceful movements and fluctuations in its tone. Its eyes never left Sirius, as it urged itself on and on.

At last it stopped, and after a few moments, the dogs around stopped too. The black dog, with one last glance at Sirius, fell back on its four feet, and silently bounded away into the darkness.

Sirius could hear voices outside his door. The howls had probably woken everyone up. He decided to head down to the pub, and have something to eat, the fresh episode seemed to have drained his stomach.

As he reached for the door, Sirius could have sworn that the black dog had repeatedly howled, 'Behold as the Black breaks forth from chains' 

*

'Darn dogs, why do they pick to howl their heads off?'

Sirius nodded feebly as Tom, looking groggy poured him some coffee. Dedalus was seated at his table and looked extremely unhappy at being woken up by howling dogs at four o' clock in the morning. Most of the tables around them, were occupied by people who had been woken up by the howling dogs and decided to come down to the pub, as well.

'Put some sugar in mine, will you Aben,' said Dedalus, and Sirius nodded, tipping some sugar into Dedalus's cup of coffee and then putting some in his own. 

'Can't imagine, why they went nuts like that, can you?,' said Dedalus, and at this hour, his voice was not remotely high pitched and enthusiastic as it normally was, a few hours later.

Sirius shook his head, though he knew perfectly well. The dogs had been welcoming him. Or encouraging him to do something. He didn't understand what they meant by, '_breaks forth from chains_' All he knew was, he had been mauled by a dog in a dream or vision, he didn't know, and a few minutes later that very dog, had applauded him. It made no sense.

As he was sipping his coffee, a woman entered the pub. She was holding a tiny dog in her arms. 'Hey there, Madam Marchbanks,' said Tom, giving her his toothless grin.

'Hello Tom,' she said, seating herself at the table beside theirs. 'Bad night?'

'You bet,' said Tom. 'with all the dogs howling their heads off,' 

'Mally was at it too,' said the woman, prodding her little dog affectionately. 'Can't imagine why, though. I guess one dog started, and the others caught on,'

'S'pose so,' said Tom

Mally caught sight of Sirius and stood up, in her owners arms. She let out a series of friendly barks. 'Stop it, Mally,' said the woman and then she saw Sirius. 'She's barking at you,'

'Oh I've always been good to dogs,' said Sirius, relieved to be telling the truth for once.

'Oh good, I've never met anyone, whom Mally has ever liked before, could you hold her?,'

'Yeah sure,' said Sirius stretching out his arms.

Mally proceeded to cover his face and any other bare part of his body she could reach with her wet tongue. Madam Marchbanks eyed her, looking surprised. 'She's normally cold to strangers, you know, this is really strange...,'

'Well, I think I'll be going to my room,' said Sirius, handing the dog back to Madam Marchbanks.

Mally seemed reluctant to leave him and was open in her protest, with a series of loud barks and howls that made the surrounding customers even more irritated. She only subsided when Madam Marchbanks put a sleeping charm on her. 'My, that is indeed really strange,'

Sirius gave everyone a smile that was a little too hearty, and headed back to his room. 


	6. The Beginning of a New Life

* * *

_**Disclaimer**: OK JK, You own every piece of rabble here. Is it nice to rub it in? If you don't own something, I gift it to you. _

_**Author's Note**: Yes! This chapter definitely is the longest one yet! I made it much longer than I intended to! Hope with all your heart that Padfoot makes some friends in this chapter._

_PS: You-Know-What in this chapter has nothing to do with the one in philosopher's stone. _

_PG13 for several things that are impossible to state in one sentence._

* * *

**Chapter6: The Beginning of a New Life**

Sirius's remaining days at the Leaky Cauldron were nothing short of depressing. Diagon Alley was steadily growing more populated as the countdown towards September the First was shortening. Students and parents alike were rushing in and out of Diagon Alley, buying last minute supplies and stopping for snacks at the Leaky Cauldron. Sirius even spotted Frank once, but he had been to busy talking to a plumpish girl, with glassy eyes, so he had decided not to disturb him. Dedalus was seen most of the time amid Julie and her chattering friends, inventing jokes that Sirius found anything but funny. It seemed however, that Julie was rather fond of Dedalus, for she would let out a high pitched squeal of mirth, whenever he reached the punch line of any of his 'jokes'

Tom had been too busy for Sirius to have a word with, the rush hour started at dawn and ended late in the night. He seemed to be rather pleased however, he kept throwing winks at Sirius, and he presumed that business was going well. Sirius was starting to feel lonely, he had hardly anyone to talk to. Dedalus had once been a good person to have a word with, but now he seemed to be more concerned with Julie than him. Tom had hardly anytime to breathe, let alone talk to Sirius. The only company he had, was the occasional odd person in the pub, who noticed how lonely he looked and asked him about himself.

Sirius was relieved as September the first drew closer. He had paid forty five Galleons to Tom, the fee for his stay at the Leaky Cauldron. Tom had at first refused to take it, but Sirius had forced him to. He now had only one Galleon left, which was not enough for him to buy any of the prank merchandise he planned to buy in the starting. He would spend long uneventful hours in his bedroom, playing with the gold coin, sometimes firing hexes out of the window at the reclining tramps, who got rather a shock.

Three days before September the First, Sirius decided to head down to the pub for a coffee. While descending down the staircase, he cursed as he heard Julies peals of false laughter echo up the staircase. 'Dedalus, you poor sod,' he muttered to himself as he strolled into the pub. There weren't too many people in the pub for once, and Sirius was glad of it. 

The most prominent guests, were Julie and her friends surrounding Dedalus as he was giving a highly amusing speech. Sirius noticed that Julie was sitting a lot closer to Dedalus then what was customary. Her fingers were absent mindedly fondling his ear as he spoke. Sirius noticed that she was the only person who was laughing. All the others were simply looking bored, occasionally guffawing when Julie glared at them.

Sirius asked Tom for a coffee and relaxed in his chair, eying Dedalus and Julie with some curiosity. He couldn't believe that she was this flirtatious at such a young age. He noticed Tom, wearing a black scowl as he poured steaming coffee into a cup, throwing looks at Dedalus every now and then. 

'Dunno what that girl finds so funny, eh?,' he said, as he handed Sirius his coffee. Sirius noticed that underneath his scowl, he looked very tired. There were dark circles under his eyes and Sirius doubted if he had been having much sleep.

'Well, If Dedalus likes it, I suppose its okay,' he said carelessly tipping some sugar into his cup. It swum around for a few moments, its white color clashing with the black of the coffee, before Sirius stirred it with his spoon.

'I got this feeling that he's heading for trouble,' said Tom, eying Dedalus with dislike. 'Feel ashamed to say he's my nephew,' Sirius knew that this was an understatement. Tom was holding the empty cup in his hand a lot harder then was necessary and Sirius had the feeling it was going to crack.

'Don't worry Tom, he'll come around soon enough,' he said trying to sound offhanded, though he seriously doubted what he had just said. Tom shook his head muttering, 'You don't know him,'

He turned away from Sirius cursing and muttering to himself. Sirius was rather alarmed at his reaction. He didn't understand why Tom was this upset. Dedalus was just being stupid, he wasn't exactly committing a crime. He eyed Tom, rather apprehensively as he banged down mugs and plates, dishing them out to customers at random.

Sirius's gaze shifted from Tom, trying not to listen to Dedalus's high pitched voice, to the entrance. He expected to see people walking in every few seconds as it had been in the past week. He was surprised to see that for five whole minutes, not a single soul entered the pub. At last, a Viking-like man, with a straw colored beard, and muscular arms that were folded, came striding into the pub. He made a beeline towards Tom, and demanded a Firewhisky. 

'Three Galleons,' said Tom

'One,' grunted the man, his eyes flashing. Sirius thought he looked very dangerous and was surprised at the calm expression on Tom's face.

'Three,' he repeated, and Sirius noticed that his hand was in his pocket. He was willing to bet it was around his wand

'One,' growled the man, stroking his beard threateningly.

'Three,' repeated Tom, in the same tone as the man.

'I said one,' hissed the man. He was now clutching his beard. 'Look here, I have links you cannot dream of, if you don't give it for one, it will be the worst for you,'

'I don't care about your pathetic contacts' said Tom, gently removing his wand but keeping it out of sight of the man. 'If you want a Firewhisky, you pay three Galleons'

'I already said, I'm going to take it for one and only one, and if you don't give it to me, I'll take it for free'

'I'm still saying three, said Tom defiantly,' Sirius gulped as the man drew a dangerous looking club from what looked like a sword sheath.

'Give it to me for one, you rotter,' he roared, brandishing the club and it was swinging dangerously close to his head.

'Sorry, sir,' said Tom coolly, 'I have no control over the prices and -'

Sirius was watching rather interestedly, but was interrupted when by a soft voice. He swung his head around and saw the woman who owned the dog called Mally, seated at the same table as him.

'Hello dear,' she said, throwing a dirty look at Tom, who was now poking the Viking-like man in the chest.

'Hello Madam - er,' 

'Marchbanks,' she said with another impatient glance at Tom. The Viking-like man had stripped off his shirt, and was flexing his muscles dangerously, apparently trying to intimidate Tom, who looked anything but intimidated.

'So,' she said looking disgusted. 'How are you getting to King's Cross?,'

'Er...I don't know,' said Sirius. He had been debating whether to take the Knight Bus again or to go with Dedalus.

'What do you mean? Term starts in three days,' she said, eying the Viking with an eyebrow raised. Sirius turned and saw that he was jumping up and down, banging his chest, rather like a gorilla.

'Um...No one will give me a lift,' said Sirius feeling nervous.

She looked at him, sympathetically for a moment, even though the Viking had started bellowing swear words in a language they didn't recognize..

'Well dear, I have to drop my daughter, who's in seventh year, so you can join us,' she said.

Sirius stared at her for a moment, wondering if she could be serious. There was no sign of any expression on her face that suggested she was joking. Sirius decided to believe her.

'I - I - er - thank you -,' he stuttered. He hadn't expected to find such an easy means of reaching King's Cross and he had been preparing himself for yet another risk-full journey.

'Hmmm, we'll be outside the main entrance by half past ten,' she said

'I - I - really appreciate - don't know -,' began Sirius but she just laughed and beckoned to Tom to come over.

Tom sidled over, swearing under his breath. The Viking had stormed out of the pub, swearing to return with twelve axe-men and beheading them all. Most of the customers were laughing silently, though one or two (including Julie) were shrieking with mirth. Dedalus had apparently managed to turn the incident into another highly amusing joke.

'Hey there Madam Marchbanks,' said Tom, blankly. Sirius noticed his fists clenched and he looked as though he would have given anything to rip that man's beard off and tear him to pieces.

'Hello Tom, I have to talk to you about...You-Know-What,' she finished with a glance at Sirius. He felt rather hurt. Tom's expression had changed from one of fury, to one of astonishment.

'Did it happen?,' he whispered..

Madam Marchbanks nodded.

Tom opened his mouth to speak again, but before a single word could come out,

'What's the You-Know-What?,' interrupted Sirius.

Tom seemed to realize he was there for the first time and glared at him.

'It's not a thing,' said Madam Marchbanks hurriedly intertwining her fingers and not looking at Sirius. Tom however, was more direct.

'And you needn't know about it,' he said firmly. Sirius got the hint that he wasn't invited to participate in their conversation.

'Okay,' said Sirius shrugging. He got up to leave and with a last look at Madam Marchbanks, he said, 'I'll expect you at half past ten, then,'

He headed back to his room, now cursing himself for having drunk coffee. He wouldn't be able to sleep for another hour at least. Instead he seated himself in his armchair and began thinking about the You-Know-What. He finally gave up, when no conclusion came flying into him. He sidled over to his bed and collapsed on it, trying to fall asleep as soon as possible.

*

September the first, dawned grey and sodden, with the dark clouds rumbling a warning of approaching storms. Sirius jumped out of bed, feeling excited. He did a little jig around the room, before he glanced at his watch and realized that he had barely an hour to get ready. He cast an excited eye at his trunk, which had been packed the previous evening, at his wand, which was lying on his bedside table, and finally at the mirror, which was reflecting a rather dirty looking boy, wearing a crumpled jacket. He anxiously ran his fingers through his untidy hair, waiting for his mirror's verdict. 

'Have a bath, handsome,' wheezed his reflection, which was had been very taken with him since he had moved into the room.

'You know, I think I'll listen to you for once,' said Sirius, 

Until then he had not used the bathroom much. He had only used it once shortly after he had arrived, but he had since then refrained from entering it, the reason being the existence of an extremely irritating portrait depicting blonde witch, who would keep passing comments that made kept his mood far from happy. He had managed to keep from cursing her long enough, but she persisted and finally he fired a stunner at her which had no effect. She had let out peals of hysterical laughter and explained to him that most wizarding spells had no effect on portraits.

He gritted his teeth, clutching his towel rather tightly as he headed for the bathroom. He had taken his wand with him, though the witch had already told him it was unnecessary.

Half an hour later, Sirius emerged from his bath, looking a lot more presentable. Fortunately, he hadn't been troubled much, by the witch, who had been in a rather tetchy mood and had not taken much notice of him. He hurriedly straightened his shirt and his jacket before putting them on and rushed back to his room.

'What do you think now?,' he said in front of the mirror.

'Your any mirror's dream,' said his reflection, dazedly eying him.

Sirius hurriedly moved away, and proceeded to comb his hair. He let a little tuft to curl into his eyes, as the mirror had advised him. As he eyed his reflection, he could have sworn that Julie would be swooning over him the moment he entered the pub.

He glanced at his watch. It was five minutes to half past ten. Madam Marchbanks could be here any moment. 

'See you in a year, then' he told his reflection.

'Don't go, you're the most handsome thing that's ever stayed in this room!,' his reflection tried to reach out of the mirror and grab him, but all it could do was press itself rater awkwardly against the glass.

Sirius stifled a laugh as he picked his trunk and hoisted it over his shoulder. As he opened the door, he stole one last glance at the room that had been his home for over a month. His reflection was waving frantically at him, looking as though it was about to burst into tears. He found it hard to ignore it as he closed the door and headed for the staircase.

The loud voices seemed extra charged as they were emanating from below. On entering the pub, he seated himself at his usual place near Tom's table, not bothering to un-hoist the trunk of his shoulders. Dedalus and Julie were not present in the pub, which only raised his spirits. He wondered why he was feeling nervous. The butterflies were fluttering about in his stomach harder than was customary. Tom caught sight of him and grinned.

'She'll be here any minute now,' he said. The anger on his face three nights ago seemed to have vanished.

Sirius didn't say anything, but managed a feeble smile. 

'What can I get you?,' asked Tom

Sirius shook his head. He didn't feel like talking. He was sure that even if he had wanted to say something, he wouldn't have been able to.

'Come on, you look peaky,' Tom persisted. Sirius shook his head frantically and gave a start as a loud honking sound came from outside.

'Must be Madam Marchbanks,' said Tom, casting a look at the door, 'You'd better hurry Aben,'

Sirius gulped and jumped to his feet, narrowly avoiding crashing to the floor, as his trunk swerved involuntarily. He turned around and looked at Tom for a moment.

'Thanks a lot for everything, Tom,' he forced himself to croak.

'You're welcome, Aben, and send me owls from Hogwarts, won't you?,'

Sirius nodded. 'I will,' he said and started as the car gave another loud honk

'Best get going,' said Tom, 'And keep in touch Aben,'

Sirius gave him a thumbs up as he sprinted out of the main entrance of the Leaky Cauldron. As he sprinted out on to the pavement startling the tramps, he noticed a dark green car, and saw Madam Marchbanks seated in the front. She seemed to be scolding an impatient looking driver, who was determinedly looking in another direction. Sirius turned around to look one last time at the pub and saw Tom waving at him. He waved back furiously until the driver gave another honk, and he rushed towards the car. 

'Hello Aben,' she said as Sirius clambered into the backseat of the car. 'I was just telling Eddie off, for honking more than what was necessary,'

This, Sirius thought, was an unnecessary piece of information. He gave a start when he realized that he wasn't alone in the backseat. A pretty girl, who was much older than Sirius, was sitting next to him and eying him with a mildly interested expression. She was already dressed in her Hogwarts uniform, and she wore a badge on her chest that read 'Head Girl'

'Er -hi,' he said, taken aback at clambering into a car as fast as he could and finding himself seated next to the Head Girl of his school.

'Hello,' she said, smiling, 'I'm Madeline Marchbanks, I'll be Head Girl this year. What's your name?,'

'Er- Sirius,' said Sirius and then realized what a blunder he had made.

Madam Marchbanks had swung around in her seat and was looking at him with a rather surprised expression. She opened her mouth to speak but Sirius hurriedly said,

'Sirius Aben Black,'

Madam Marchbank's face was re-possessed of her smile. She looked at her daughter. 'He prefers to be known as Aben, isn't that right?,'

'Er - No - Sirius is fine,' said Sirius hastily. He didn't want to have everyone know him by a different name at school.

Madeline looked unperturbed at the looks exchanged between her mother and Sirius. Instead she widened her smile and said,

'I must say Sirius, you are more good-looking then any of the eleven year olds I know,'

The driver swung around in his seat at these words and gave Sirius a jealous stare. He was forced to return to driving as Madam Marchbanks gave him a rap on his head.

Sirius felt himself go red and was ashamed about it. He said nothing and looked out of the window. The rest of their journey passed in silence after that, though Sirius was well aware that Madeline was closely observing him at all times.

They finally reached King's Cross, and Sirius jumped out of the car, bidding Madam Marchbanks good bye as she hugged her daughter. He had to endure more jealous stares from Eddie as he rushed into the station. For a few moments he lumbered about, wondering what to do. 'Platform Nine And a Three Quarters' he muttered to himself, lugging his trunk along 'How do I get there?'

He strained his memory, trying to remember a conversation between his mother and brother that had happened a few years previously. _"All you have to do"_ Regulus had said in his sickening voice, _"Is walk straight through the barrier between Platforms Nine and Ten" _

That was it. Sirius glanced around at the barrier dividing Platform Nine and Ten. He observed as a boy pushing a trolley disappeared when he walked through it. That was it. He wondered why he wasn't pushing his bag on a trolley and then decided that he didn't want to.

He walked towards the barrier, taking a deep breath. Most forms of such magic didn't work if you were nervous. He squashed his nerves by inhaling deeply and pretended to be deeply involved in a Mortgage Advertisement. As he neared the barrier, his nerves struggled to resurface by questioning him about what would happen _if _it didn't work, but he determinedly ignored them.

As he reached the barrier he shut his eyes as he walked through it, feeling nothing. When he was sure he had made it, he opened his eyes and saw a scarlet steam engine standing next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead read 'Hogwarts Express, 11 o' clock'. Where the ticket box had been, there was a large iron-wrought archway on which the words _Platform Nine and Three Quarters _was imprinted.

He stood rooted for a few moments, observing the various wizarding families, as they said words of parting to their young. Some students were on the platform chatting animatedly to their parents, while the others were leaning out of compartment windows and doing so. For a fleeting second, Sirius wished he had a family with whom he could happily talk to, and not one that loathed his presence.

This longing soon vanished when he caught sight of his own family, standing not very far off from him. His mother was patting Regulus on the back, who was looking very smug, Sirius could only imagine why. Bellatrix was standing next to him, being sobbed over by her mother as Narcissa hissed to her to stop crying. Sirius caught a glimpse of a group of Narcissa's friends pointing at her mother and laughing and he felt an evil satisfaction.

Quite suddenly, he came to his senses. He was standing hardly ten feet away from his family and if he was caught now, it would all be over. He would live the rest of his life knowing that he had come this close. He was not willing to risk being seen. He sprinted towards the train, hurtling up the stairs as he swung his trunk ahead of him. He heard a yelp of pain and groaned. He had knocked someone over with his trunk.

'What the hell do you think?,' came a hissing voice.

Sirius found himself staring into the face of a sallow skinned boy with a hooked nose. His hair had been greased with a slimy substance, and the effect was sickening. As the boy got to his feet, his face was overcome by a sneer as his cold, black eyes raked Sirius from head to toe. His expression was making it hard for Sirius to resist giving him another blow with his trunk.

'Sorry,' he said, though he anything but meant it.

'Sorry?,' repeated the boy and his sneer became more pronounced. 

His eyes lingered over the the tuft of Sirius's hair that curled into his eyes. He smirked revealing tiny teeth. Sirius dearly wished he could knock each of them out.

'A feeble _"sorry"_ on your part, does not satisfy me, I am afraid. If you are so insistent on satisfying me, you must let me - ahem - practice certain - Arts on you'

Sirius stared at him for a second, allowing the meaning of what he had said to sink in.

'If you mean you want to hex me,' said Sirius, every syllable quivering with rage. 'Why don't you just say it'

'Oh, just hexing you, is not enough,' his sneer was so pronounced that Sirius felt himself trembling with rage 'I am afraid, we must go a _little _further'

Sirius dived into his jacket-pocket for his wand.

'Oh no, not right now,' said the boy smirking, 'I wouldn't want to mangle you in front of so many families. You must watch out for me at Hogwarts, I am afraid'

With that he walked off, giving Sirius one last triumphant stare. Sirius trembled with rage, his wand clutched in his right hand, before he shook himself and walked into the train. He strolled down the corridor, searching for an empty compartment and finally found one. He walked into it and took a seat by the window hoping that he would be alone for the rest of the journey. 

For a few minutes, Sirius just gazed out of his window at the crowded platform. Most of the children had now taken seats in the train and were leaning out of the window to talk to their parents. He settled back, wondering if he would make any friends even at Hogwarts. He had certainly made a bad beginning.

He sighed and was jerked forwards as the train began to move. He resumed staring out of the window observing the Platform go by, with students waving madly at their families. He had done it. He had pulled off his prank. He was off too Hogwarts. A new chapter of his life would begin there.

Sirius didn't realize that a boy had walked into the compartment as he was deep in thought. He didn't realize that the boy had taken a seat opposite him. He didn't realize that the boy was looking at him. He didn't know that his life was about to change. He didn't know that his quest for a true friend was finally about to reach its end. 

_Marauder: Three guesses who the boy was..._


	7. The Boy in the Glasses

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_**Disclaimer**: JK owns everything...Oh Boy, talk about parrots..._

_**Author's Note**: Four months. FOUR MONTHS??!! Was my little ficcy worth the wait? Probably not, anyway, I decided to continue with it on an afternoon when I should have been studying math (yuck) _

_Well, It's time for another question answering session. Again, I remind you all, that I plan to make this series pretty long, so it'll be natural to leave a few time gaps in between each chapter (I'm not doing it deliberately, I've got math to do remember? *double yuck*) I received a review (bless all my reviewers!) from a certain Critical, informing me that he/she didn't believe a mere hundred Galleons would be enough to buy all school supplies. Ah, but Critical, if school supplies were that costly, how would the Weasley's manage to buy them? In the first book, it says that they have only a few galleons in their Gringotts account._

_But I admit, I did exaggerate the Firewhisky price (I forgot to say, I own that trollish guy. Yay)_

_PG13 for several ickle thingies (talk about parrots again)_

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**Chapter7: The Boy in the Glasses**

"Anything of the trolley dears?" said a pleasant voice, jerking Sirius out of his stupor. He looked towards the doorway of his compartment to see a pleasant old lady looking at him. She was wheeling a trolley, on which a variety of wizard sweets were placed, few of which Sirius had ever had the pleasure of tasting.

"Dears?" he said staring at a chocolate with a green wrapper, feeling his mouth go wet. "I think I'm alone...."

"I don't think so" she said. "there's another young man here that I can see..."

Sirius turned his head quickly, and found himself looking at a boy seated opposite him. He was rather thin, with glasses and a shock of untidy black hair. There was a certain charm about his face, different from Sirius's charm, which was natural good looks. He was eying Sirius with a strange look, almost as if he was sizing him up. As Sirius stared at him, a strange feeling was sweeping through him. He had never met this boy before, but he seemed strangely familiar. Had he seen him in a dream? No...his recent dreams had largely featured nothing but that great black dog. Sirius stared into the grey eyes of the boy for a few moments. He tried to think of words to describe him. For some reason, the image of a great silver creature, with huge antlers kept coming into his mind. It was too blurred for Sirius to say what it exactly was.

"So what can I help you with?" repeated the woman. Sirius tore his gaze away from the boy, back to the cart. He bought himself a packet of chocolate frogs. The boy opposite had bought some pumpkin pasties. Sirius carefully opened the wrapper of a chocolate frog, aware that the other boy was looking at him. As soon as the woman had wheeled her trolley away, the boy said, "Have we met before?"

Sirius looked up at him again. No strange sensation swept his body now. He felt perfectly normal.

"I don't think so..."

The boy smiled, proving Sirius right in thinking that he possessed charm. He was pretty convinced, that girls like Julie would have quite a good haul this year.

"It's strange..." said the boy. "You look kind of familiar"

"So do you" said Sirius. "I think I might have seen you in a dream or something..."

The boy raised an eyebrow. Sirius felt himself go red. It had been stupid to suggest that he was having dreams about a person he had laid eyes on barely seconds ago. He looked down and continued peeling the wrapper of his chocolate frog.

"You know..." said the boy, and Sirius looked up. "You seem kind of like a dream character too..."

"Yeah...well, now that we've met each other in reality...I guess we should forget the dream part of us..." said Sirius, trying to skive of the dream topic. When he realized what he had said, he wished he hadn't said it. It sounded rude. The boy however didn't seem offended.

"Yeah I guess so...my dad always says it doesn't do to dwell on dreams" Though these words sounded serious, Sirius could tell from the expression on the boy's face, that he hardly cared what they meant. 

"Um..yeah..." was all he could say.

The boy stared out of the window for a few moments, before twisting his head towards the door of the compartment as Sirius did the same. Two people were having a conversation, which Sirius found too boring to listen to. He turned his attention back to the boy instead. 

The boy was staring intently at the compartment door. He seemed to be listening to the conversation going on outside. As he listened, an expression came over his face, that filled Sirius with excitement. He knew that expression. It had possessed his face countless times since his very young years. It was the expression that took his face whenever he came up with a brilliant prank idea. It was the Look of a true prankster. Sirius could hardly believe that he was staring at a boy like himself for the first time since his dark childhood at Grimmauld Place.

Without any preamble, he said "What have got in mind?"

The boy looked at him and seemed distracted. He hurriedly forced himself to look puzzled, as Sirius could tell. "I beg your pardon?"

"Oh c'mon" said Sirius "What piece of trouble were you planning?"

The boy stared at him suspiciously. "How did you know?"

"I saw a look - I mean _the_ Look on your face. You are a real prankster then aren't you?"

The boy raise an eyebrow at Sirius, though he looked less suspicious. "And how would you know what the Look looks like?"

Sirius stared back. He wondered if the boy would believe him. "Because, I'm one too...I'm a veteran troublemaker"

The boy looked disbelievingly at him. Sirius realized that the boy wouldn't believe him unless he actually saw the Look on his face. He forced himself to plan a prank to pull on the people outside. He didn't need to go into details, just the thought of pulling a prank on them sent thrills up his spine. He knew that the Look must have materialized on his face. He looked at the boy who seemed shocked to see the Look on him.

"Believe me now?"

The boy stared at him for a moment, then grinned. "I guess I have too" He looked out of the window for a moment before looking back "I should also tell you, that before now, I have never seen the Look on anybody's face except my own..."

"Neither have I" said Sirius, grinning back.

"Wait a minute....maybe that's why we've been dreaming about each other. We're the only two real pranksters alive at this moment"

"Hey, that sounds sensible enough" said Sirius, thinking that that really was a rather reasonable explanation. It certainly explained why the boy looked familiar. It did not however explain the dog in his dreams.

"So we've had quite a long conversation. We've realized that we both seem familiar to each other. We've concluded that it's probably because we dream of each other. We've realized that we're both probably the only remaining real pranksters in the world. But we don't know each other's names..." the boy looked at Sirius expectantly.

Sirius laughed. "Sirius Black" he said, extending his hand.

The boy took his hand with a grin. "James Potter" he said.

"World be Warned of the havoc about to be wreaked, as the only remaining pranksters with the Look unite..." Sirius looked nervously at James. "...or do they?"

"What do you think?" said James with a scolding air. "That we'd just leave each other...to let our talents rot...when utilized they might make history?"

"History?" said Sirius, "Sounds good, I reckon I consider myself in..."

James laughed. "Black...did you say your last name was?"

"Er...yeah"

James looked at him straight. "Look, meaning no offence, but I heard your family are kind of...well I dunno what to say..."

Sirius nodded. "I think the phrase you're looking for is 'pure-blooded, maniacal freaks' right?"

A temporary silence met his words. James looked shocked. With quite some effort, he opened his mouth.

"You called your own family that?"

"Well I don't consider myself a part of that family anymore" said Sirius calmly. "It's a long story why, beginning with my inability to understand that darn Doctrine of Pure Blood"

He related his story to James, beginning with Regulus's punching sessions, and concluding with his escape plan. He didn't forget to include detailed descriptions of the pranks he had pulled. At the end of his story, he found James's reaction different to that of Frank's. Frank had been astounded to hear Sirius's escape plans, but James far from being surprised was almost envious. 

"I must say, you planned the whole thing really well" he said.

"Yeah - thanks"

At that moment the compartment door opened. Sirius and James turned towards the door. A girl stood at the doorway. Her hair was a dark shade of red, and the most striking thing about her appearance was her green eyes. She looked at Sirius first and then at James, for a few moments before opening her mouth.

"Sorry, I thought this compartment was empty. There's much less noise coming from it than from the other ones..."

"That's solely because there are only two people in it..." said Sirius. "We haven't got a problem if you want to sit here, right James?"

He turned to look at James, when there was no reply. James was staring at the girl. Sirius didn't know whether he found her attractive, or was planning to prank her..."

"Right James?" he repeated.

"Errr...yeah, right" said James, tearing his eyes from the girl, back to Sirius. "Target Number One" he whispered.

"No man..." whispered back Sirius. "She looks too innocent...a Muggle born more likely..."

"That's what makes it fun..." whispered James.

"But I reckon we should lie low a bit....get to know her better..."

"Okay...as you please..."

The girl seemed unaware of the whispered conversation that had taken place as she progressed from the door of the compartment and seated herself on the same seat as Sirius, at a safe distance. 

"So" said James "May we know your name"

"Lily Evans" she replied, with a smile. "What about you?" She looked so pleasant, that Sirius didn't feel he had the heart to prank her.

"I'm James Potter. This is my friend Sirius Black"

Sirius felt oddly good for two reasons. One was that James had called him his friend, when they had met only that very day, and the second was that Lily had given him a smile. With each passing moment, he was losing the will to prank her more and more. He began to feel guilty. James didn't seem as affected as he did. He hoped it didn't show on his face.

"Are you a born witch?" he asked, to distract himself from the guilt he was feeling.

"No" she replied. "I'm a Muggle born. I received my letter to Hogwarts just some time ago. It sure was a shock when I saw an owl for the first time..."

Sirius forced himself to laugh, willing himself to imagine what it would feel like to have an owl tapping at your window for the first time. James was glaring at him. "Abort" Sirius mouthed. 

"Muggle born, huh" said James. "That means you probably won't be too experienced with magic..."

"Oh you'd be surprised at what I can do" said the Lily. "I always used to make strange things at school happen. As soon as I got my books, I learnt almost everything in them. I'm quite well versed with most hexes, charms, counter-curses and things..."

"Piece of cake" muttered James staring out of the window, suggesting that he had probably done the same. Sirius blushed hoping that no one noticed it. The truth was that he had done what the girl had at the age of nine. He hoped that didn't suggest that he was some kind of intellectual freak.

"I did all that when I was seven" continued James, taking a considerable load of weight of Sirius's chest.

"Good for you" said Lily.

James glared, first at Lily then at Sirius. Sirius shook his head, hoping that James understood he sympathized with him.

"Well" said Lily. "I think I should go and get changed into my robes now. We should be reaching pretty soon. Thank you, for allowing me to sit here for awhile"

She smiled at Sirius and threw a contemptuous glance at James, before walking out of the compartment.

"I say..." said James looking at Sirius. "Was she pretty or wasn't she?"

_Marauder: Awww, poor Jamesie sure doesn't know the right way to show off..._


	8. Dung Suffocation

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_**Disclaimer**: Welcome to the final game of the Harry Potter Premiere League!...JK United vs. Marauder United...We have but ten seconds of play left...What's this?...Captain JK is heading for the goal with the ball!...Keeper Marauder rushes at her...he trips over his laces...JK SCORES! JK United have won ownership over the Harry Potter series! Captain Marauder1 is disgusted...No what's this? he's grinning...Man, That's what you call true sportsmanship (That is the stupidest disclaimer I've ever written. Mind you, I've written many...)_

_**Author's Note**: And here we comes back again! Doesn't we preciousss? Oh, beg your pardon...Anyway, the last chapter received quite a review-full response...to tell you the truth I wasn't expecting much of one...I thought all of my dear readers would have forgotten about me...*sniff*...But I was wrong! Yay!_

_In this chapter, I freak out a bit. It is a pretty long one!_

_PG13 - Yeah baby!_

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**Chapter7: Dung Suffocation**

'I must say, I don't quite see how you expect to survive if you're so...I dunno...'

'Come on man, she looked so...well...unfamiliar with things...and besides, you yourself said _she was so pretty_...' Sirius allowed himself a wicked grin.

James groaned, 'Just because she's pretty doesn't mean we have to spare her...' he muttered. 'And you know why I think you didn't want to do anything to her? Because she was sitting _next to you_. You didn't want her to move from there too soon, did you?' He fixed Sirius with a penetrating glare.

It was Sirius's turn to groan. 'Fine, then' he said, anxious to wipe the glare of James's face 'To make it up to you, I'll aid you in pulling off a super prank on Lily Evans when we reach Hogwarts...' He wondered why he was saying this. It was totally contrary to what he wanted to do when he reached the castle.

James's face was re-possessed by the grin Sirius had already become familiar with. 'That's the attitude we need more of...' he said, the grin widening. Sirius wondered if he should tell him that he thought picking victims carefully was an essential part of pulling a prank, but decided that he wouldn't fare well in the ensuing debate, and did not say anything. 

He wondered what to say next. A new question arising in his mind, he said 'How are we supposed to operate at Hogwarts? If we're not in the same House...things might get a little tough...'

'Hmm...' said James, looking lost in thought. 'I've heard my dad say there are several passages and hidden chambers all over the place. We could use one of them as Head Quarters...'

'Cool!' said Sirius. His mind was buzzing with their recent conversation. _Head Quarters_. James sure did know how to make something sound really interesting. 

'I think...' said James staring at the compartment door, '...that we need a little practical exercise before Project Lily Evans...you know just a little warm up...' Sirius saw the _Look_ materialize on his face.

'Whatever you say...' said Sirius wondering if this was a good idea. Deciding he didn't care, he swiftly said 'Have you got any material with you?'

'Just two dungbombs, and a wealth of knowledge of handy spells...'

'Tell me something I don't know...' said Sirius, the excitement in him dying. _Dungbombs_. And in a train. How incredibly stale. Deciding to voice his feelings, he said 'What kind of a prank would it be if you chucked a dungbomb into a compartment, and the people inside swiftly ran out (escaping the stench) and caught hold of you, and gave you a thorough black and blue beating? Would that be a prank?'

'It certainly would' said James, with a wicked smile 'If the inhabitants of the compartment were locked in with the stench...'

Sirius stared at him for a moment, digesting what he had said. 'Do you mean...' he whispered 'that you're going to lock the door after you chuck the bombs in?'

'Precisely' said James, the smile turning into a grin. 'And I must say, it will be fun to hear the sounds of groaning and moaning from inside...' he paused for a moment, and his face fell. 'What if it hurts them?' he said, sounding worried.

'Who cares?' said Sirius, excitement leaping inside him. 'Look whose sounding soft now...'

That did the trick. James stood up, and although he still looked reluctant, his face was set in a determined expression. 'Let's go do it' he said, heading for the door.

'Wait' said Sirius. It was his turn to grin wickedly. 'You have to go slow, man. Don't be _reckless_' James stared at him. 'What do you mean?'

'Oh you can go ahead with your prank...' said Sirius, smiling at James. 'But you'll have to do it without the dungbombs'

'Oh' James groaned. He headed for his trunk, and opened it. After rummaging for a while, he extracted a plastic bag, which seemingly contained the dungbombs. 'So, are you ready to roll?' he asked 

'Aye Aye' said Sirius. 'Mission 1: Dung Suffocation' He looked at James, expecting him to laugh or say something light-hearted. To his surprise, he was staring at him with a worried expression. 'What's up, mate?' asked Sirius

'What if they do suffocate?' he asked, sounding genuinely worried. Sirius rolled his eyes. 'If they feel uneasy, they'll have the sense to open the windows, won't they...Dud...' he added in an undertone.

James continued to stare at him. 'You don't know this thing, man' he said. 'It's part of an extra powerful series of dungbombs. Drop it too near and the stink will be so unbearable...I dunno...'

'You dunno, right?' said Sirius starting to feel impatient. 'So let's get on with it.' He reached for the door. James still looked worried. 'Don't be chicken' said Sirius. 'If something happens, the people at Hogwarts will be ready to sort it out' He opened the compartment door, and walked out, James closely following him.

They walked down the train, listening closely at various compartments, searching for a suitable victim. For a moment, Sirius wondered why he was doing this. If something happened, it would be his fault. He had coaxed James into this. James had wanted to back out. He managed to half-heartedly convince himself that nothing would happen. It was just a little prank. All the same, he had a bad feeling about this.

He paused outside a compartment, where the door was a crack open. Barely audible, was a person talking. And that voice was strangely familiar. A wave of excitement engulfed Sirius as he realized who that voice belonged to. 

'Well, I must say, I don't think Dumbledore is a very apt Head Master. Any person who lets in Mudblood slime like that girl who passed by some time ago cannot be called an apt headmaster...'

'Pass the bombs' whispered Sirius urgently. 'It's my brother in there...I've got to get him...' James reluctantly passed him the bag. 'Be ready with the locking spell' whispered Sirius. James nodded and extracted his wand. Pointing it at the door he inhaled deeply. 'Run the play' he whispered.

'Aye Aye' said Sirius. He stepped towards the door, the sound of Regulus's voice inside was growing more audible. Raising his leg he kicked it open.

A strange silence greeted his sudden appearance outside the door. Regulus was seated beside the window staring at Sirius with an expression of shock and fright mixed. Beside him was the boy Sirius had seen with him at Diagon Alley. Opposite them was the slimy haired boy Sirius had met on the platform and next to him was Bellatrix.

'Bippidy Bappidy Boo!' yelled Sirius, chucking the bag right between Regulus and the slimy haired boy. He banged the compartment door shut as an explosion sounded inside followed by Bellatrix's squealing. James muttered something and waved his wand, and Sirius thought he heard the door click shut.

'Let's get the shit out of here' whispered James to Sirius and they sprinted the length of the train back to their compartment.

As they entered, Sirius collapsed on the compartment. 'Geez, that was close...' he whispered, panting. 'Yeah...' said James. He looked around for a moment. 'But you can't deny, It was bloody fun' 

'You bet...' said Sirius 'Especially the part where -'

He was cut short as the door opened again. It was Lily Evans, accompanied by a brown haired boy, about the same height as Sirius, who looked rather weak. Sirius and James both stared rather stupidly, first at Lily, then at the new boy, who gave them both a weak smile. He looked as if he had spent most of his life outdoors, and was rather tanned. Sirius thought he looked very fatigued, and wondered what the reason could be.

'Hello again' she said pleasantly. Sirius looked at James, and was relieved to see that he didn't seem to be looking for mischief. He was gazing at Lily, with a calculating look.

'This is Remus. Remus Lupin. We were wondering if you would mind if we sat here.'

Sirius looked at Remus and decided that this was someone he wouldn't mind sharing a seat with. Though he looked sick, his face was very pleasant and he had a friendly smile playing at his mouth. Sirius opened his mouth to say he didn't mind at all, but before he could get the words out, James was there first.

'Where were you sitting before now? Why did you leave that place?'

Lily looked straight at him. 'Well, we were sitting in a compartment further up the train, but all of a sudden it got rather smelly. So we decided to move down here...'

James stared at Sirius looking scared.

'Was it near the place where a gang of Slytherin freaks were sitting?' he blurted out.

'Erm...yeah, I think it was' said Remus.

Sirius leaned towards James. 'You didn't tell me that the stink would drift outside the bloody compartment' he whispered. 

'You didn't ask' whispered back James defensively. 

Sirius snorted. 'Anyway, no harm done...'

'Excuse me' said Lily. Sirius jerked his head towards her. She was frowning. 'May we know what the verdict is? We're allowed to sit or not?'

'No...I mean no problem at all!' said Sirius, hurriedly, grinning at her. It was this grin that normally made girls like Julie melt before him, but Lily stared at him with a rather suspicious expression. She changed it to a smile and seated herself next to him like before. Remus sat next to James. James was looking between Sirius and Lily, then glaring at Sirius. Sirius found himself in a rather difficult position.

They sat in silence for sometime, James occasionally glancing at Sirius, who would give him a reassuring look. Remus seemed rather silent. After a few minutes, Sirius decided he couldn't take this anymore. 'Erm...I think I'll just pay a quick visit to the toilet' he said standing up. He gave James a meaningful glance, and smiled at Lily and Remus before walking out of the compartment.

He hurried up the train to the compartment where Regulus and the others had been sitting. True to what Lily had said, a stench, rather like that of an un-cleaned toilet was drifting through the air. Sirius could hear slight moaning from the compartment within. He felt rather frightened. 

He heard footsteps and instinctively swung around. It was James. 'What's the situation?' asked James. 

'Not that I can describe it' said Sirius. 'All I can hear is a kind of moaning from within...doesn't sound too good'

James looked worried again. 'Do you think we should open the door, you know, so they can have some air to breathe?'

'And unleash stink all over the train? No, thank you...' said Sirius.

'Oh yeah' said James.

'I wonder how they are going to get out eventually, though' said Sirius.

'You should have thought about that before you chucked those bloody bombs in-'

'Yeah I know I should have' said Sirius. He was beginning to feel lousy. And frightened at the same time. 'Well, you can't say Mission1 was not a success...'

'Success? And at what price?'

'Nothing...as yet'

'Erm....excuse me?' Sirius and James jumped and looked around to see the brown-haired boy from their compartment.

'Er - Remus! What are you doing here?'

'I decided I needed a visit to the toilet as well, so I thought I'd follow you' he smiled. 'But it seems you weren't entirely truthful'

'You mean you heard everything?' asked Sirius nervously.

'Enough to understand that two very naughty boys have been running around chucking dungbombs into compartments' he said, the smile widening into a grin. 'I did pick up a few hints from your whispered conversation back in the compartment, though'

'I thought it was a whispered conversation' said James.

'And I think you need to brush up on your whispering skills, their rather rusty at the moment, my friend'

James groaned. Sirius felt like doing the same.

'So did the girl hear everything too?'

'Yes, I suppose Lily did' said Remus.

'That's why she was frowning her face off at me' Sirius allowed himself to groan.

Remus looked at the two of them. 'I think, it would be safer for you back in the compartment' he said. 'You don't want to be caught at the scene of the crime...'

'_Scene of the crime?_' exclaimed James. 'What the...'

'Let's go James ' said Sirius. 'He's right'

As they trudged back to the compartment, Sirius felt strange. He felt like he had committed a crime. Was the crime worthy of expulsion from Hogwarts? Sirius felt a lump in his throat. If it was, James would be expelled too. And all because of him.

As they entered the compartment, James glared at Lily. 

'Going to tell on us, are you?'

* * *

Sirius stared out of the window feeling as low as it was possible for him to feel. James sat opposite him, shaking with rage. The argument between Lily and James had gone as far as an argument could go. It had ended with Lily's storming out of the compartment, leaving Sirius, James and Remus staring at each other stupidly.

'You were a little insulting, James' said Remus, after a few minutes of frosty silence. Sirius jerked his head from the window into the compartment.

'And what about her? Why is it that girls are allowed to do exactly as they please, and when we do the same, we're being _insulting_?' James spat out of the window.

'Curse on all guys' muttered Sirius.

'I'm not willing to lie down and be cursed' said James. 'I'm going to give it back to them. Project Lily Evans will be launched with extra vigor' 

Sirius leaned forward and slapped him hard. He gestured furiously towards Remus, who was watching them looking surprised.

'Oh...Oh shit...why did I say that...I actually didn't mean it, you know Remus, I say things like this when I'm really emotional...'

James gave him a very artificial smile, that Sirius was sure he would see through immediately.

'Oh, I'm sure you didn't mean it' said Remus. 'Oh yeah, and I must compliment your ability to produce a very realistic smile whenever it is necessary'

'Damn' muttered Sirius to himself.

'So you too are planning more trouble?' asked Remus.

'And if we are?' said James, glaring at him.

'Oh, come on, you can trust me, I've heard enough of your plans, and you have my word, I won't tell on you'

Sirius stared at him. There was an earnest expression on his face, and Sirius felt his doubts about him melt away.

'You know what? I believe you' he said.

James had been watching Remus closely too. 'I guess I believe you too'

Remus smiled. 'Well, all I can say is I'm glad'

Sirius extended his hand. 'To make it official...' he said. Remus shook it with a grin, before shaking James's too.

* * *

The fear that Sirius had been feeling, which had disappeared for a while when he had made a new friend was fast returning as they were nearing Hogwarts.

'You know what Remus, I reckon you are going to have to launch Project Lily Evans for us, in case we're expelled...' muttered James darkly.

'I'll do nothing of the sort' said Remus. '...and besides, I dunno why you're so convinced that you're going to be expelled. After all, there isn't any direct evidence against you...unless those guys in the compartment saw you before you chucked the bomb in...'

'You know what?' said Sirius 'They did. I don't think they saw James, so I guess it'll be just me who's expelled'

'Nothing of the sorts going to happen' said James firmly. 'We are going to do something to save you, Sirius old boy'

'Yeah - I'll lend a hand too' said Remus.

'As much as I'd appreciate it, I don't really think there's anything you can do...' said Sirius feeling hopeless. 'We're reaching Hogwarts now, the first thing those guys will probably do is run to the Headmaster and tell him what I did...'

'Excuse me...' said James calmly. 'I remember telling you that that was a special dungbomb. They'll probably be unconscious in the hospital wing the whole day. The earliest that's possible for them to come around is tommorrow morning, and between now and then, there's plenty of time to do _something_...'

Sirius really appreciated James's comforting words. It was so great to have friends. Though James kept trying to drill confidence into him, the fear would not be put down.

Sirius returned to staring out of the window, not really noticing the spectacular sights whizzing past him, and briefly aware of conversation going on between Remus and James.

His heart began to beat furiously as the train slowed down. He wondered what James had in mind to rescue him. He hoped it would work.

_Marauder's heart is beating furiously too..._


End file.
